By Getting Serious About Limiting Global Warming, The World Could Save Itself More Than $20 Trillion

May 30, 2018

The Los Angeles Times article discusses a new Stanford study that proposes that more than $20 trillion could be saved worldwide if global warming were kept a half-degree below the Paris climate agreement's 2 degree Celsius target. ARE Professor Max Auffhammer wasn't involved in the study, but he commented that it's difficult to accurately predict how future technological growth could shave off some of that temperature increase. "Future adaptation will probably involve innovative technologies with lower costs than those that are currently used," he wrote. "Such technologies might include, for example, air conditioners powered by carbon-free electricity that are more energy efficient than present-day devices. Adaptation could therefore result in lower economic damages than are predicted."