Since the broad discovery of climate change in the 1970s, researchers and scientists have attempted to understand its wide-ranging effects. Previous studies have extensively examined the relationship of climate to water access, human health, economic developme... More »
Globalization and structural changes in African economies are contributing to rapid urbanization—with 50 percent of the population predicted to live in urban areas by 2030, compared to 36 percent in 2010. Simultaneously, climate change is projected to have sig... More »
With a year that included severe monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, earthquakes in Mexico, and hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 2017 was an exceptionally bad year for natural disasters. Policies can help mitigate these tragedies, but to start we mus... More »
The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was one of the priciest on record, mirroring a global trend of natural disasters becoming more expensive. Understanding the impacts of these natural disasters has become increasingly important. Researchers often model these i... More »
In the face of climate change, the most effective way to ensure that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are slowed or stopped is by transitioning to a low-carbon economy. From an economic standpoint, however, this switch is no easy feat. A recently published study... More »
The implementation of a carbon cap and trade program is often put forward by policy makers as a potential market-based solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the United States. Instead of waiting on the federal government, in 2009, several Northe... More »
Recent wildfires in California and catastrophic flooding in Louisiana have drawn public attention to natural disasters across the United States. Yet little is known about the total financial impact of extreme weather events, particularly on non-disaster socia... More »
This piece, first published on July 6, 2016, is being republished as part of the Chicago Policy Review‘s 20th Anniversary Series. Please visit us here to learn more about the series from our Executive Editors.Although the majority of the scientific community a... More »
Although the majority of the scientific community agrees that Earth’s climate is warming, there is still considerable public debate about whether or not climate change is happening and how serious the government’s response should be. Indeed, a recent report fr... More »
With less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States consumes about one-fifth (21 percent) of the world’s energy.In a working paper for The Hamilton Project published in 2012, Greenstone and Looney find that the true social cost (private co... More »
Halldór Thorgeirsson, Director for Strategy at the UN Climate Change Secretariat, shares his insights into international political negotiations, the implications of the Paris climate agreement, and why it is so important to empower cities, private companies, a... More »