Long-run evolution of the global economy

Introduction Conclusions References Tables Figures Back Close Full Screen / Esc Abstract Introduction Conclusions References Tables Figures Back Close Full Screen / Esc Abstract Long-range climate forecasts rely upon integrated assessment models that link the global economy to greenhouse gas emissions. This paper evaluates an alternative economic framework, outlined in Part 1, that is based on physical principles rather than explicitly resolved societal dynamics. Relative to a reference model of persistence 5 in trends, model hindcasts that are initialized with data from 1950 to 1960 reproduce trends in global economic production and energy consumption between 2000 and 2010 with a skill score greater than 90 %. In part, such high skill appears to be because civilization has responded to an impulse of fossil fuel discovery in the mid-twentieth century. Forecasting the coming century will be more of a challenge because the effect 10 of the impulse appears to have nearly run its course. Nonetheless, the model offers physically constrained futures for the coupled evolution of civilization and climate during the Anthropocene.