Scientists meeting in Copenhagen say the U.N.’s worst climate fears are already coming to pass. Lord Stern, who helped alert the world to the economic perils of climate change, said at the conference that his 2006 report underestimated both the speed and scope of climate change.
A new report warns that climate change left unchecked would cause the global economy to lose 20% of its value, while acting to address the problem would only cost 1% of global GDP. Sir Nicholas Stern’s report is the first major attempt to address the economics, as opposed to the science, of global warming.