Ignore At Your Own Risk: A Risk Management Perspective on Climate Change

Gallons of digital ink has been spilled discussing and debating the legitimacy of concerns over climate change and global warming. Unfortunately, like many internet debates, both sides of the argument at times rely on emotional arguments, unrealistic assumptions, and overly simplistic outlooks, with a noticeable lack of nuance. While there is overwhelming scientific consensus that global climate is definitively warming, this alone provides only a small part the story. The Earth is indeed warming, but so what? Does it matter, and if so what are possible solutions?

Global warming has environmental, economic, and societal impacts. The projections of the specific timing and severity of those impacts result in a wide range of values, however. Given this, How can we pinpoint the required industrial and societal changes necessary for reducing those impacts if we cannot precisely quantify those impacts in the first place? An effective climate change policy must account for numerous scientific and socioeconomic uncertainties that are likely to substantially affect both the costs and benefits of any policy action.