Advances and challenges in the attribution of climate impacts using statistical inference

Abstract:

We discuss recent advances, challenges, and debates in the use of statistical models to infer and attribute climate impacts, such as distinguishing effects of "climate" vs. "weather," accounting for simultaneous environmental changes along multiple dimensions, evaluating multiple sources of uncertainty, accounting for adaptation, and simulating counterfactual economic or social trajectories. We relate these ideas to recent findings linking temperature to economic productivity/violence and tropical cyclones to economic growth.