Abstract

Yogi Berra succinctly captured how economic growth, technology change, demographic change, and climate change are altering visions of what the future could bring: "the future ain't what it used to be." Understanding the range and character of possible futures is critical to furthering assessment ... Show moreYogi Berra succinctly captured how economic growth, technology change, demographic change, and climate change are altering visions of what the future could bring: "the future ain't what it used to be." Understanding the range and character of possible futures is critical to furthering assessment of climate change, including the potential risks to physical, natural, and human systems in the context of different development pathways, and mitigation and adaptation options to avoid, prepare for, and manage those risks. Because concerns about climate change span the current to the far future, the field has a long history of using scenarios to explore and evaluate the extensive uncertainties associated with future climate change and development pathways. Show less