New phrase watch: "Mega-Greenhouse Effect"

Always on look out for the amusing, inventive and profession changing terms, the release of a working paper with the title:

The Economics of the Mega-Greenhouse Effect: A Conceptual Framework

brings us the phrase "Mega-greenhouse effect".

Read below to find out what a mega-greenhouse effect actually is.


The Economics of the Mega-Greenhouse Effect: A Conceptual Framework
Date: 2007-08

By: John M. Gowdy (Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY 12180-3590, USA)

Roxana Julia (Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY 12180-3590, USA)

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rpi:rpiwpe:0711&r=env [PDF]

Integrated assessment models of climate change typically analyze the case of a doubling of atmospheric CO2.over the pre-industrial concentration of about 270 ppm. This is a serious shortcoming since under a scenario in which all accessible fossil fuels are burned, atmospheric CO2 concentrations will more than quadruple. We introduce an analytical framework that endogenously accounts for potential climate change events related to this “mega-greenhouse” and examine economic implications of two alternative mitigation strategies: one in which only the rates of annual emissions are reduced, and one that places absolute limits on the total amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. (JEL C53, D61, Q20, Q21 )

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