Stern Review Economic Costs of Climate Change Impacts including at the Poles
31.10.2006 - Other
The Stern Review (published 30 October 2006) styles itself as "the most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change". It has assessed that the global costs of inaction on climate change could outweigh those of either of the 20th century's world wars. The Independent Online gives a good account of the climate change impacts which the Stern review took into account, including key impacts at the Poles.
According to the Independent, the Stern review considered that current computer models suggest that floating summer sea ice in the Arctic could disappear completely by the year 2070. Some experts believe that this could happen even earlier this century with accelerating warming trends " causing the polar bear to become extinct. Also as global average temperatures rise then so does the risk of crossing a threshold beyond which the world's biggest ice sheets begin to melt irreversibly. This would commit sea levels to a rise by between 5 metres and 12 metres over the coming centuries.
Also, as temperatures rise, permanently frozen northern hemisphere tundra begins to melt, releasing vast stores of methane - a greenhouse gas which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
