Climate costs lowest if warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius
Monday, January 27, 2020 - 09:10
in Earth & Climate
Using computer simulations of a model by U.S. Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus, researchers have weighted climate damage from increasing weather extremes, decreasing labor productivity and other factors against the costs of cutting greenhouse gas emission by phasing out coal and oil. Interestingly, the most economically cost-efficient level of global warming turns out to be 2 degrees Celsius, the level to which more than 190 nations agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement. So far, however, CO2 reductions promised by nations worldwide are insufficient to reach this goal.