Climate change adaptation
Wed 11 February 2004
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Adapting to climate change and warding off a dangerous rise in temperature will be much cheaper than many people think, but will require a wide mix of different strategies according to the research director of the Tyndall Centre.
Professor John Schellnhuber of the Centre, which is based at the University of East Anglia, believes the cost of averting runaway climate change is in the range 0.3 to 0.5% of global GDP.
He told a high-level conference in Berlin - also attended by the Queen and included a video address by Tony Blair - that the world can avoid a major catastrophe by following a range of different strategies.
Dr Schellnhuber's list includes working for the introduction of more efficient vehicles and buildings, reduced vehicle use, capturing CO2 at the point of emission, and where possible replacing coal, oil and gas with other fuels. He also argues for reducing deforestation, and for ploughing methods which release less CO2. Perhaps more controversially, he proposes the use of nuclear power to replace coal.
Related Links
BBC story link
Tyndall Centre for Climate Research
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