DHAKA: Human societies will soon start to experience adverse effects from manmade climate change, a prominent economist has warned.

Prof Richard Tol predicts the downsides of warming will outweigh the advantages with a global warming of 1.1C - which has nearly been reached already.

Prof Tol is regarded by many campaigners as a climate ‘skeptic’.

He has previously highlighted the positive effects of CO2 in fertilizing crops and forests.

His work is widely cited by climate contrarians.

‘Most people would argue that slight warming is probably beneficial for human welfare on net, if you measure it in dollars, but more pronounced warming is probably a net negative,’ Prof Tol told the BBC Radio 4 series Changing Climate.

Asked whether societies were at the point where the benefits start to be outweighed by consequences, he replied, ‘Yes. In academic circles, this is actually an uncontroversial finding’.

But it is controversial for climate contrarians, who often cite Professor Tol’s work to suggest that we shouldn't worry about warming.

BDST: 1247 HRS, Nov 16, 2015
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