Abstract

Robert Pindyck’s recently published book, Climate Future: Averting and Adapting to Climate Change, attempts to answer the questions that in the light of great uncertainty even lay readers are asking. There are two key issues. How will the climate react if greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions continue to increase in the coming decades? How much will temperatures rise? How will global warming affect sea levels, the severity and frequency of storms and hurricanes, droughts, and other aspects of the climate? And, more importantly, what economic and social damages will these changes produce? Reducing emissions will not be enough, and Pindyck’s recommendation is to invest in adaptation.