A Workshop on Uncertainty in Climate Change: Introduction & Opening Remarks. Ken Gillingham
Yale Professor Ken Gillingham welcomes participants in this YCEI sponsored workshop that brings together climate change scientists and economists whose modeling efforts hinge on the need to accommodate anticipated climate change in a warming world.
He sets the stage for the day’s conversations by reviewing the just released IPCC 5th Assessment Report, some of its findings, and the unique language that the IPCC uses to describe uncertainty in climate sensitivity, the key parameter that concerns economists and climate scientists.
What is the information needed to make effective policy, is the governing question. Specifically, (i) what is the climate sensitivity to GHG emissions?, and (ii) what does a change in climate mean for human welfare?