Adaptation to Climate Change: Evidence from US Agriculture

Understanding the potential impacts of climate change on economic outcomes requires knowing how agents might adapt to a changing climate. We exploit large variation in recent temperature and precipitation trends to identify adaptation to climate change in US agriculture, and use this information to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American economic journal. Economic policy Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 106 - 140
Main Authors: Burke, Marshall, Emerick, Kyle
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: American Economic Association 01.08.2016
Subjects:
Adaptation
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Anniversaries
Change agents
Climate change
Corn
Economic change
Economic conditions
Economic impact
Economic policy
Estimates
Experiments
Heat
Precipitation
Productivity
Standard deviation
Studies
Temperature
Trends
ISSN:1945-7731, 1945-774X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Understanding the potential impacts of climate change on economic outcomes requires knowing how agents might adapt to a changing climate. We exploit large variation in recent temperature and precipitation trends to identify adaptation to climate change in US agriculture, and use this information to generate new estimates of the potential impact of future climate change on agricultural outcomes. Longer run adaptations appear to have mitigated less than half—and more likely none—of the large negative short-run impacts of extreme heat on productivity. Limited recent adaptation implies substantial losses under future climate change in the absence of countervailing investments.
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ISSN:1945-7731
1945-774X
DOI:10.1257/pol.20130025