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Main Author: Tol, Richard S. J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12266
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author Tol, Richard S. J.
author_facet Tol, Richard S. J.
contents Environmental determinism in the past followed from the belief that the gods bestowed political power and the best possible weather on the sponsors of early scholars. Although later discredited in academia because of the associations with racism and the lack of support for any monocausal explanation of history, environmental determinism in popular culture has morphed into the unfounded idea of catastrophic climate change. Although a handful of papers in the literature on the economic impact of climate change appear to support this concern, closer inspection reveals severe methodological and conceptual issues with the analyses. Climate policy will not dominate major economies, because politicians will pull back before it does, but small economies may be overwhelmed by the export of carbon credits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_12266
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Climate determinism reborn
Tol, Richard S. J.
Physics and Society
Environmental determinism in the past followed from the belief that the gods bestowed political power and the best possible weather on the sponsors of early scholars. Although later discredited in academia because of the associations with racism and the lack of support for any monocausal explanation of history, environmental determinism in popular culture has morphed into the unfounded idea of catastrophic climate change. Although a handful of papers in the literature on the economic impact of climate change appear to support this concern, closer inspection reveals severe methodological and conceptual issues with the analyses. Climate policy will not dominate major economies, because politicians will pull back before it does, but small economies may be overwhelmed by the export of carbon credits.
title Climate determinism reborn
topic Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12266