We are told that if we do not limit global warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, we’re doomed.
However, William Nordhaus, winner of the Nobel Prize in 2018 for his seminal work on the economics of climate change, and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have projected that even with an increase of 4 C by 2100, the costs of adaptation would only reduce global GDP by 4.5 per cent.
While there has been an increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and modest global warming as a result of fossil fuel use, we have also reaped enormous benefits.