Consequentialism and Climate Change Policy

Abstract

"The issue of climate change is one of the most encompassing and complex issues facing the international community today. Climate change is defined as the alteration of climate patterns beyond its natural variability brought about both directly or indirectly by anthropogenic activities. Climate is naturally variable – the durations of our summers and the number of typhoons are not exactly the same year after year. Historically, mean global temperatures have cycled through highs and lows between ice ages. However, climatologists and scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change have projected that mean global surface temperatures will rise by 1.4 to 5.8°C by 2100 relative to the average temperature of the baseline period 1960-90 (IPCC TAR 2001). "