Study shows long-lasting health, economic impacts of lead emissions from U.S. general aviation flights

Recognizing the substantial costs involved in addressing climate change through both mitigation and adaptation measures, the Paris Agreement stipulates that developed countries provide at least $100 billion a year in climate financing to developing countries, and support their transition to lower-carbon economies through international cooperation. One avenue for such cooperation is to link carbon markets—emissions trading systems that put a cap on carbon—in developed and developing regions.

To assess the likely impact of climate change on U.S. agriculture, researchers typically run a combination of climate and crop models that project how yields of maize, wheat and other key crops will change over time. But the suite of models commonly used in these simulations, which account for a wide range of uncertainty, produces outcomes that can range from substantial crop losses to bountiful harvests. These mixed results often leave farmers and other agricultural stakeholders perplexed as to how best to adapt to climate change.

While China is currently moving ahead with a national carbon market covering large emitters, an ongoing question remains whether and how the country might also directly restrict the use of coal to tackle the triple threat of air pollution, climate change and energy insecurity. One option under discussion involves imposing limits on the use of coal or on all fossil fuels at the national or regional levels. A new study by researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Policy of Global Change, Tsinghua University, and ETH Zurich examines this option in detail.