Economics of Global Warming

When we turn on the television, flip through a newspaper, or search the internet, we find ourselves being constantly bombarded by an ever increasing amount of information about the phenomenon of global warming. Climate change has far reaching effects that encompass all the basic elements of life for individuals around the world: access to water, food production, health, and the environment. People are beginning to realize that it is not something that can simply be ignored. Evidence of flooding, extinction threats toward many species, and the possibility of humans actually having to relocate have caught citizen’s attention and they are looking for answers. Global Warming has become one of the most pressing issues of modern society. The economic effects are very significant and deserve our attention. The Stern Review on Economics of Climate Change argues that, “[d]ecisive and strong international action is urgent: Delay means greater risk, and higher long term costs.”
It is evident that all countries will be affected, although the extent to which is not a uniform reflection of the damages they are inflicting upon the environment. A specific countries part per million concentration output of green house gases is referred to as flow. It is when these annual emissions of economic activity combine as a stock concentration that negative temperature increases and physical damages become the result. Consequently, even though the larger industrialized economies are creating the bulk of the problem, they will not be the first to feel the consequences. Instead the burden will be felt greatest by those countries with limited economic resources, low levels of technology, poor information and skills, limited infrastructure, unstable or weak institutions, and inequitable empowerment and access to resources. Such nations have little adaptive capacity and are highly vulnerable to climate change.  
One of the most vulnerable means of productions is that of agriculture because it...