Sunday, May 04, 2008

global warming winners and losers

from The Atlantic, a host of potential social, economic, and environmental scenarios resulting from increased global warming >>
It may sound odd to ask of global warming, What’s in it for me? But the question is neither crass nor tongue-in-cheek. The ways in which climate change could skew the world’s distribution of wealth should help us appreciate just how profoundly an artificial greenhouse effect might shake our lives. Moreover, some of the lasting effects of climate change are likely to come not so much from the warming itself but from how we react to it: If the world warms appreciably, men and women will not sit by idly, eating bonbons and reading weather reports; there will be instead what economists call “adaptive response,” most likely a great deal of it. Some aspects of this response may inflame tensions between those who are winning and those who are losing. How people, the global economy, and the international power structure adapt to climate change may influence how we live for generations. If the world warms, who will win? Who will lose? And what’s in it for you?

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Environmentalists don’t like talk of adaptation, as it implies making our peace with a warmer world. That peace, though, must be made—and the sooner businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs get to work, the better.

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1 comment:

Jeff said...

i like this article, its clearly well researched and offers some potential situations, however probable they are i think the author is missing one point. he could have talked about in the adaptation section, in fact i was surprised not to see more there.

the potential 'green energy revolution' has been talked about recently as a source of money for entrepreneurs the likes of which havent been seen yet. purely speculative to me i havent heard any studies or essays written on the subject. I have heard business leaders give talks in which they talk about the potential of this emerging market.