Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change
The threat of so†called rapid or abrupt climate change has generated considerable public interest because of its potentially significant impacts. The collapse of the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation or the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, for example, would have potentially catastrophic effects on...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x |
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ftrepec:oai:RePEc:wly:riskan:v:25:y:2005:i:6:p:1419-1431 2023-05-15T14:01:57+02:00 Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change Nigel W. Arnell Emma L. Tompkins W. Neil Adger https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x unknown https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x article ftrepec https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x 2020-12-04T13:34:00Z The threat of so†called rapid or abrupt climate change has generated considerable public interest because of its potentially significant impacts. The collapse of the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation or the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, for example, would have potentially catastrophic effects on temperatures and sea level, respectively. But how likely are such extreme climatic changes? Is it possible actually to estimate likelihoods? This article reviews the societal demand for the likelihoods of rapid or abrupt climate change, and different methods for estimating likelihoods: past experience, model simulation, or through the elicitation of expert judgments. The article describes a survey to estimate the likelihoods of two characterizations of rapid climate change, and explores the issues associated with such surveys and the value of information produced. The surveys were based on key scientists chosen for their expertise in the climate science of abrupt climate change. Most survey respondents ascribed low likelihoods to rapid climate change, due either to the collapse of the Thermohaline Circulation or increased positive feedbacks. In each case one assessment was an order of magnitude higher than the others. We explore a high rate of refusal to participate in this expert survey: many scientists prefer to rely on output from future climate model simulations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet North Atlantic North atlantic Thermohaline circulation RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet Risk Analysis 25 6 1419 1431 |
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Open Polar |
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RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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The threat of so†called rapid or abrupt climate change has generated considerable public interest because of its potentially significant impacts. The collapse of the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation or the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, for example, would have potentially catastrophic effects on temperatures and sea level, respectively. But how likely are such extreme climatic changes? Is it possible actually to estimate likelihoods? This article reviews the societal demand for the likelihoods of rapid or abrupt climate change, and different methods for estimating likelihoods: past experience, model simulation, or through the elicitation of expert judgments. The article describes a survey to estimate the likelihoods of two characterizations of rapid climate change, and explores the issues associated with such surveys and the value of information produced. The surveys were based on key scientists chosen for their expertise in the climate science of abrupt climate change. Most survey respondents ascribed low likelihoods to rapid climate change, due either to the collapse of the Thermohaline Circulation or increased positive feedbacks. In each case one assessment was an order of magnitude higher than the others. We explore a high rate of refusal to participate in this expert survey: many scientists prefer to rely on output from future climate model simulations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nigel W. Arnell Emma L. Tompkins W. Neil Adger |
spellingShingle |
Nigel W. Arnell Emma L. Tompkins W. Neil Adger Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
author_facet |
Nigel W. Arnell Emma L. Tompkins W. Neil Adger |
author_sort |
Nigel W. Arnell |
title |
Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
title_short |
Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
title_full |
Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
title_fullStr |
Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eliciting Information from Experts on the Likelihood of Rapid Climate Change |
title_sort |
eliciting information from experts on the likelihood of rapid climate change |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x |
geographic |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet North Atlantic North atlantic Thermohaline circulation |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet North Atlantic North atlantic Thermohaline circulation |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00689.x |
container_title |
Risk Analysis |
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25 |
container_issue |
6 |
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1419 |
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1431 |
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1766272015503720448 |