ABSTRACT
Having risen from relative obscurity as few as ten years ago, climate change now looms large among environmental policy issues. Its scope is global; the potential environmental and economic impacts are ubiquitous; the potential restrictions on human choices touch the most basic goals of people in all nations; and the sheer scope of the potential response—a significant shift away from using fossil fuels as the primary energy source in the modern economy—is daunting. The magnitude of these changes has motivated experts the world over to study the natural and socioeconomic effects of climate change as well as policy options for slowing climate change and reducing its risks. The various options serve as fodder for often testy negotiations within and among nations about how and when to mitigate climate change, who should take action, and who should bear the costs.
