The Economics of Global Environmental Risks

44 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2009

Date Written: 1998

Abstract

Uncertainty is part and parcel of the human condition. The need to manage climate risk has shaped human institutions for many centuries, giving rise to insurance in agricultural societies and to patterns of land holdings across medieval Europe} Today's concern about global climate change breaks new ground. It challenges conventional wisdom in two ways One is the worldwide scope of the changes considered. We are concerned with potential catastrophes, such as changes in the sea level and global shifts in the availability of water and fertile soil. No society can ignore such risks The second challenge is that these changes appear to be driven by human activity, which has now reached levels at which it can affect the earth's fundamental processes, such as its atmosphere and its climate These two new elements, the global and endogenous nature of these risks, have extended human uncertainty both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Suggested Citation

Chichilnisky, Graciela, The Economics of Global Environmental Risks (1998). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1375489 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1375489

Graciela Chichilnisky (Contact Author)

Columbia University ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States
212 678 1148 (Phone)
212 678 0405 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.chilchilnisky.com

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