Introduction: The term "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" refers to the increase in the average temperature of global surface

air and oceans and the continuing increase in those temperatures. Most of the scientific communities would agree to the fact that the Earth has become significantly warmer since the mid-20th century due to the increase in the Greenhouse Gases (A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the infrared range), that trap heat in the Earth's surface. Although there are increasing evidences that climate change is already occurring, there is neither sufficient knowledge (as to what extent climate change poses risks to societies and companies), nor adequate strategies to cope with these risks. One of the causes of global warming, or more generally, global climate change is increased atmospheric CO2 that comes from anthropogenic sources. Human activity is increasing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, burning forests, deforestation and destruction of the soil, along with other activities. The effects, or impacts, of climate change may be physical, ecological, social or economic. The various effects of climate change pose risks that increase with global warming. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has organized many of these risks into five threats (Threats to endangered species and
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unique systems, damages from extreme climate events, effects that fall most heavily on developing countries and the poor within countries, and global

aggregate impacts). Governments in some countries became aware of this increasing problem and started creating and implementing policies and strategies to help eliminate it. These governments based most of their plans of action on

reducing the Carbon emissions and raise awareness among its citizens (Dr. Tuckson, 2011). Countries such as Germany, the Nordics and Spain are leading

technologically, China is investing massively in clean renewable energy and Brazil has passed promising legislation.

Goal of Project This report aims to study and implement the possible solutions (actions) to the climate change problem through the techniques of managerial economics to minimize the risks and effects of climate change on the economy.

Problem Description

Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, which occur both naturally and are directly and indirectly generated by mankind. While optimal amounts of greenhouse gases are necessary for Earth to be habitable, a profusion of

greenhouse gases rate disturbances in weather and storm patterns that can be catastrophic.

Man-made greenhouse gases have increased greatly in the last 50 years. Among the largest sources of man-made gases are: fossil-fuel burning vehicles, worldwide deforestation, and sources of methane such as sand fills, septic systems, livestock, and fertilizers.

a) Greenhouse Gases Generated by Mankind

The scientific community as a whole has concluded that naturally occurring greenhouse gases have remained fairly constant over the past several hundred years. Greenhouse gases directly and indirectly generated by mankind, though, have increased radically for the past 150 years, and especially in the past 60 years.

Major sources of greenhouse gases generated by mankind are:

Burning of fossil fuels, which includes oil and gas, coal and natural gas. Chlorofluorocarbons, commonly used in refrigeration, cooling and manufacturing applications.

Methane, which is caused by emissions from landfills, livestock, rice farming (which uses methane-emitting bacteria), septic processes, and fertilizers.

Deforestation

b) Vehicles Burning Fossil Fuels Are Primary Source

The largest single contributor to the rise of man-made greenhouse gases is the burning of oil and gas to power vehicles, machinery, and produce energy and warmth. The Union of Concerned Scientists observed in 2005: "Motor vehicles are responsible for almost a quarter of annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary global-warming gas. The U.S. transportation sector emits more CO2 than all but three other countries' emissions from all sources combined. And motor vehicle emissions will continue to increase as more vehicles hit America's roads and the number of miles driven grows.

"Three factors contribute to CO2 emissions from cars and trucks:

Amount of fuel used Amount of CO2 released when a particular fuel is consumed Number of vehicle miles traveled."

c) Deforestation Is Also Major Source

But deforestation is also an important, if lesser known, culprit for causing greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) observed in 2006:

"Most people assume that global warming is caused by burning oil and gas. But in fact between 25 and 30 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere each year 1.6 billion tonnes is caused by deforestation...

"Trees are 50 percent carbon. When they are felled or burned, the C02 they store escapes back into the air... Deforestation remains high in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia." (White)

And the situation is worsening, per Science News Daily, which wrote in late 2008, "Decreasing forest cover, almost exclusively from deforestation in tropical countries, was responsible for an estimated 1.5 billion tons of emissions to the atmosphere above what was gained through new plantings."

Evidence of the increase in climate change highlights the necessity to apply and adopt new actions and strategies .The evidence compiled were recorded by diverse

kinds of data recording platforms : 1. ships 2. weather stations 3. weather balloons 4. radar 5. satellites 6. climate proxy records such as (tree rings and ice cores)

These records findings show that changes in the climate have already affected our environment. Some of these changes include: 1. Around the earth average temperatures have risen 2. Arctic ice disappearing 3. Glaciers and snow mountains are melting

Figure 1 Everest Then and Now

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution which started in the 18th century, the world has changed faster than anyone expected. Not only is the earth warming, bringing more intense storms and causing Arctic ice to vanish, but the political and policy landscape is being transformed even more dramatically. Already, certain industries are facing mandatory limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in some of the 129 countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol. Now, businesses are taking the Global Warming issue seriously and accepted it as a reality.

The Global Warming Effect on Business: Due to the Global Warming effect on economic conditions and the risks that follow, governments and businesses have turned to Managerial Economics to deal with the economic risks of Global Warming. The managerial economics techniques are suited to deal with the climate change uncertainty because the main function of managerial economics is to develop microeconomic concepts and employs them to examine business decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

Solutions and Actions: 1. Everyone and every country will be affected one way or another with Global Warming. The most vulnerable the poorest countries and populations will suffer earliest and most, even though they have contributed least to the causes of climate change. The costs of extreme weather, including floods, droughts and storms, are already rising, including for rich countries. Adaptation to climate change that is, taking steps to build resilience and minimize costs is essential. It is no longer possible to prevent the climate change that will take place over the next two to three decades, but it is still possible to protect our societies and economies from its impacts to some extent for example, by providing better information, improved planning and more climate-resilient crops and infrastructure. Adaptation will cost tens of billions of dollars a year in developing countries alone, and will put still further pressure on already scarce resources. Adaptation efforts,

particularly in developing countries, should be accelerated. 2. Action on climate change will also create significant business opportunities, as new markets are created in low-carbon energy technologies and other low-carbon goods and services. These markets could grow to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and employment in these sectors will expand accordingly . The world does not need to choose between
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averting climate change and promoting growth and development. Changes in energy technologies and in the structure of economies have created opportunities to decouple growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth. 3. Emissions can be cut through increased energy efficiency, changes in demand, and through adoption of clean power, heat and transport technologies. The power sector around the world would need to be at least 60% decarbonized by 2050 for atmospheric concentrations to stabilize at or below 550ppm CO2e, and deep emissions cuts will also be required in the transport sector. Even with very strong expansion of the use of renewable energy and other low carbon energy sources, fossil fuels could still make up over half of global energy supply in 2050. Coal will continue to be

important in the energy mix around the world, including in fast-growing economies. Extensive carbon capture and storage will be necessary to allow the continued use of fossil fuels without damage to the atmosphere. Cuts in non-energy emissions, such as those resulting from deforestation and from agricultural and industrial processes, are also essential. With strong,

deliberate policy choices, it is possible to reduce emissions in both developed and developing economies on the scale necessary for stabilization in the required range while continuing to grow. Climate change is the
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greatest market failure the world has ever seen, and it interacts with other market imperfections. Three elements of policy are required for an effective global response. The first is the pricing of carbon, implemented through tax, trading or regulation. The second is policy to support innovation and the deployment of low-carbon technologies. And the third is action to remove barriers to energy efficiency, and to inform, educate and persuade individuals about what they can do to respond to climate change. How Countries and Businesses Adopted Changes to Reduce Global Warming: Singapore: A leader in creating greener industry Singapore is unlike any other Asian city in that this tiny republic has managed to maximize every potential financial opportunity that has been presented to it since the end of World War II. Few people are aware if it but Singapore is now the fourth largest financial trading center in the world. They follow only London, New York and Tokyo. Since 1997 economic growth of this island nation located at the tip of the Malay peninsula has exploded. The reason for this is simple. When the British returned Hong Kong to China after their 99 year lease ran out in 1997, Many ex-pats looked for a convenient Asian trading post with a stable government. Enter Singapore with its pro UK recent past. Until 1965, the republic was another center of the British Empire.
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Singapore is geographically small. The total area of the city state numbers just 271 square miles. The country is comprised of 63 individual islands. 25% of the gross national product of Singapore comes from refining of raw materials. Another 25% is derived from transport and brokerage of same. All of this industrialization has not come without an ecological price. 100 years ago 90% of the land of Singapore was rain forest. That number plummeted to less than 15% before reforestation measures restored the rain forest to almost 25% of the usable land. Ricoh is planning fifty years into the future Where does environmental concern by business begin? Obviously when black soot is billowing out of smokestacks and the community is in an uproar most corporate entities will take action. But that kind of after the fact adjustment will not reduce our carbon footprint. Saving energy is the most direct route in existence towards reducing greenhouse emissions. Use less juice and we use less fuel to make that juice. Burn less fuel and we send less pollution into our atmosphere. For over twenty years major appliance makers have been manufacturing refrigerators and the like that are designed to use less electricity. Televisions using LCD screens consume 70% less power than their cathode ray tube predecessors. Even PCs are being driven by latest generation Intel processors that are adaptable for lower energy consumption.

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The manufacturing sector has been making great strides towards saving us money on power used by many of our modern conveniences.

The solution is to take one giant step further with new designs that plan for a green future. One such idea in the making is Ricohs quick warm up copier. While most office copy systems require a lengthy nonproductive warm up time the new Ricoh models are ready to run in under ten seconds. This allows the machine to be at rest in energy-saver mode yet come quickly to life resulting in an overall power usage savings of almost 50%. This savings pales in comparison to Ricohs rewriteable paper system. Perhaps you remember as a child writing secret messages with lemon or potato juice on paper. No one could read the message unless they knew to warm the note over an incandescent light bulb. Once heated slightly the top secret magically appeared.

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Now consider that Ricoh has developed an image printing and erasing system that uses heat in the same manner to write on a sheet and erase it up to 200 times. While the process itself uses some energy, that use is minute compared to the energy used to produce a sheet of paper. This is the ultimate form of paper recycling. Point of use recycling saves energy so definitively that business costs for items such as copy making can be cut by as much as 90%. This does not even factor the submerged labor costs of purchasing and delivery of paper supplies. As companies such as Ricoh continue to develop these ubergreen technologies everyone on earth will delight in maintaining a high quality of life and convenience without sacrificing environmental comfort. Ricoh should be commended further for their overall eco-strategy that is based on a year 2050 long-term environmental vision. This planning embraces energy conservation, resource conservation, pollution prevention and reduction of paper use entirely. A Volt from the blue When Chevrolet released photographs of their new electric hybrid car The Chevy Volt the automotive world was abuzz. What type of car was this? And how could it come from GM of all people? It didnt seem possible that General Motors could create such an innovative idea let alone produce such a forward thinking car. Most
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automotive insiders thought this was strictly a clay model concept car or at most some imaginary idea still sitting on GM drawing boards. But it turns out that the Volt is a real car and a beaut of one at that. What is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this new car that Chevrolet refuses to call a hybrid is its conventionally attractive styling. Sure most people will marvel at the Voltec drive train which differs from the Toyota Prius and Honda Insights in that the onboard internal combustion engine used has no direct mechanical connection to the drivetrain. The engine on the Volt runs at an economically constant speed so as to keep the 16 lithium ion batteries used at a steady current. That current then drives the Volts electric motor, which of course drives the wheels. When running by way of the current generated by the Volts gasoline generator into its 140 horsepower electric motor, the car averages a mere 50 miles per gallon fuel consumption but average in the mileage achieved from battery only silent running and that figure leaps off the line to a tremendous 150 MPG! On a fun note, if your batteries are fully charged and you run out of gas, you will still have 40 miles of driving in order to reach a station. The exterior of the Chevy Volt is more than attractive enough to lure buyers. This will be necessary with a planned initial sticker price for the car of $40,000. This figure is offset by a hefty tax credit of $7,500.

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Perhaps the one feature found in the Volt that anyone over thirty and born in the last fifty years has anticipated is the ability to drive the car for 40 miles before the gasoline engine is required. In fact, if your commute is within the national average of 33 miles daily then you might go weeks without visiting a gas pump.

You will have to plug your car into a conventional wall socket every night for a ten hour recharge. The Volts platform also allows for a quick 3 hour charge if plugged into a 240 volt socket such as those used by a clothes dryer. An electric car that can drive around town and go 70 miles per hour on the freeway was not too long ago the stuff of science fiction. We may not yet have the predicted flying cars for the new millennium but come November of 2010 there will be an automobile that we can plug into the socket just above the washing machine, charge overnight and drive to work in the morning.

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The recyclable golf balls of Dixon Golf Do you think of recycling as something new? 100 years ago people were returning glass bottles for refills of a new beverage called Coca Cola. Recycling is certainly not new. Most of the items we call disposable and allow to fill our landfills with today were at one time expected to be repaired and reused. Another example would be shoes. A good pair of shoes was meant to last 20 years as long as you had them resoled from time to time.

Recently some clever people at Dixon Golf set out to create a recyclable golf ball. They took on this challenge because golf balls, being as durable as they are, represent an item that is virtually indestructible. Nearly 300 million golf balls are discarded yearly in the United States alone representing a definitive green Earth hazard. Of course a golf ball is not a soda bottle or a plastic bag. It is not a simple item to grind up and melt down to make other goods. In fact, the chemical components of
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most major manufacturers golf balls are some of the toughest to breakdown in existence. Golf ball ingredients include heavy metals such as tungsten, cobalt and even lead. With that said, the folks at Dixon Golf knew that making a biodegradable golf ball was not really an option. But, like our Coke bottle and pair of Wingtip shoes, perhaps a golf ball could be refilled or resoled. That was the exact development direction Dixon Golf chose. To make a golf ball that could be rebuilt and consequently reused. This was accomplished by creating a ball that used a different material for its core. The core of a Dixon Golf Ball is made from a special polymer that is 100% renewable. Also, the covers of Dixon Golf Balls are made of materials that are easily recycled to make other consumer products. Every part of a Dixon Golf Ball is reusable from the core to the cover. Golf balls are manufactured to exacting standards. All of those little dimples in a golf ball act as tiny wings to give the ball aerodynamic lift and control. Inside, the core of a golf ball is designed to compress upon forceful impact from the club. The head of a golf club, swung by an amateur, strikes the ball at an average speed of eighty miles per hour. The release of that compression sends the ball outward at a great speed. Making a golf ball that meets the requirements of amateur and pro golfers alike is no small feat. Making a ball that is also recyclable is almost impossible.
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We say almost of course, because making a completely recyclable golf ball is precisely what Dixon Golf has done. Dixon Golf has created a superbly crafted high quality golf ball that is the equal of any ball in play today. In independent testing Dixon Golf balls outperformed higher priced Titleist, Nike and Callaway balls. The same test showed that the Dixon Golf Earth ball received a 92% approval rating. So how did Dixon Golf founders and Principals William Carey and Dane Platt create a recyclable golf ball that can out play the best on the market? Fortunately, the owners of Dixon Golf had spent years working in the golf ball industry for a manufacturer that made name brand balls. The construction of a Titleist differs greatly from a Nike ball and neither company is sharing their design secrets. But the principals of Dixon Golf didnt need anyone elses secret technology to aid them. They had a combined 30 years of ball making experience between them and knew firsthand the design characteristics that went into making a competitive ball. The trick would be to make a ball out of green materials that was designed from the outset to be rebuilt and resoled. Further, the 100 percent recyclable golf balls would need to perform equally as well as other brand name balls. But green golf doesnt stop there. Marketing is a major part of Dixons Green Golf Planning. When you purchase a Dixon Golf ball you can trade in your old Dixon

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Golf ball for a one dollar credit towards the purchase of Dixon Golf balls. Dixon Golf will even give you a 50 cent credit on any non Dixon Golf balls returned. Following through on this marketing swing, all of the materials used to make and market Dixon Golf Balls are recyclable including packaging and displays. At the present time there are two grades of Dixon Golf Balls, Earth, and Wind. The Dixon Golf Fire ball will be available beginning this summer. Each of these is designed for particular playing conditions and player abilities. While it is true that a Dixon Golf ball shanked into a pond will still need to be rescued by a diver, at least when it is recovered it can be recycled. A brighter tomorrow using LED lighting

Compared to incandescent light bulbs, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) are a marvel. They put out equal or greater light, use 1/3 the electricity, and last up to 15
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times longer than Thomas Edisons resistance based design. While compact fluorescent bulbs have proven superior to the original electric light they are not without their drawbacks. The most widely discussed of these failings is the use of mercury within the lamps. Few substances are as eco-unfriendly as mercury. Eventually even CFLs wear out and when they do proper disposal of the lamps can be difficult.

What if we were to look upon CFLs as less of a long term solution and more of a bridge to a truly sustainable lighting future. Many people may remember futuristic movies and television programs that depicted entire rooms being powerfully lit by panels. These panels were cool to the touch and allowed for an endless amount of lumens. It seems odd that ideas created for films such as 1972s Logans Run are now reality. The mainstay of this arrival of the future in lighting is the light emitting diode. We are all now well indoctrinated into a world where these blue white lights are heavily used. From humble beginnings as device indicators in the 1980s to those
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emergency flashlights we have fastened to key chains we all use to open doors with at night, LEDs have evolved to be the efficient light source for the future.

Lighting Source Group is more committed to the future of LED lighting than any other corporate entity in the world. This commitment is shown in two areas. The first area that Lighting Science Group is working hard in to create a well lit yet green planet is in their product line. High lumens per watt LEDs from LSG are incorporated into every conventional lighting source imaginable. From the Times Square New Years Eve Ball with 32,000 brilliant LEDs to the light bulb you screw into the ceramic fixture in your closet. Lighting Science Group has integrated existing power supplies to their high tech low current luminescence.

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This integration goes even further with production of brilliant commercial lighting for areas such as parking lots and playgrounds. Integration of todays LED technology with past power supplies allows us to light the present but how will we continue to reduce energy waste while improving home and commercial lighting? Lighting Science Groups second area of emphasis is on research. Currently Lightning Science Group is hard at work developing more efficient Light Emitting Diodes. At the present time most commercial grade LEDs release around 60 lumens per watt. LEDs used in Lighting Science Group product give off a bright blue white 80 lumens per watt. This one feature alone results in huge energy savings. LSG research is looking forward to cool running LEDs that can emit as much as 200 lumens per watt. What is the result of all this present and future green planning? Each street lighting fixture converted from an incandescent, fluorescent or halogen process to low power consuming LSG products results in the savings of 1 barrel of oil, and ton less of CO2 placed into the atmosphere every year. Plus LED based commercial lighting uses 50% less electricity. Lighting solutions reliant upon low current draining LEDs are of course but one step towards a sustainable Earth. Passive lighting from fiber optics along with reflective and focal technologies will also help us change the way we light the
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world. In an environmentally friendly plan for the future we will want to and need to use all of the resources available to us. LED based lighting from Lighting Science Group will surely be one of them. Shell Shell, a leading Gas company, announced six new biofuels research agreements with academic institutions around the world, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the School of BioSciences at Exeter University in the UK, the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture at Manchester University, the University of Campinas in Brazil, and the Institute of Microbiology and the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Shell is also is funding research at Codexis to develop microbes to speed up the chemical reactions that turn inedible plants, such as grasses or stalks, into ethanol and diesel. It is constructing a wind farm power generating facility in West Virginia that will make it one of the world's largest generators of wind power.

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Recommendations: Key elements of future international frameworks should include: - Emissions trading: Expanding and linking the growing number of emissions trading schemes around the world is a powerful way to promote cost-effective reductions in emissions and to bring forward action in developing countries: strong targets in rich countries could drive flows amounting to tens of billions of dollars each year to support the transition to low-carbon development paths. - Technology cooperation: Informal co-ordination as well as formal agreements can boost the effectiveness of investments in innovation around the world. Globally, support for energy R&D should at least double, and support for the deployment of new low-carbon technologies should increase up to five-fold. International cooperation on product standards is a powerful way to boost energy efficiency . - Action to reduce deforestation: The loss of natural forests around the world contributes more to global emissions each year than the transport sector. Curbing deforestation is a highly cost-effective

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way to reduce emissions; large-scale international pilot programs to explore the best ways to do this could get underway very quickly. - Adaptation: The poorest countries are most vulnerable to climate change. It is essential that climate change be fully integrated into development policy, and that rich countries honor their pledges to increase support through overseas development assistance. International funding should also support improved regional information on climate change impacts, and research into new crop varieties that will be more resilient to drought and flood Add a bit about behavior change in individuals and young kids will help raise a more realistic youth

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Conclusion: Many countries and regions are taking action already: the EU, California and China are among those with the most ambitious policies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol provide a basis for international co-operation, along with a range of partnerships and other approaches. But more ambitious action is now required around the world. Countries facing diverse circumstances will use different approaches to make their contributions to tackling climate change. But action by individual countries is not enough. Each country, however large, is just a part of the problem. It is essential to create a shared international vision of long-term goals, and to build the international frameworks that will help each country to play its part in meeting these common goals.

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References 1. Global Deception: The Exaggeration of the Global Warming Threat , Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, June 1998. 2. The Geologic Record and Climate Change, Dr. Tim Patterson, January 2005. 3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Appendix D, Greenhouse Gas Spectral Overlaps and Their Significance Energy Information Administration; Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government 4. New Strategies to Stop Global Warming, Dr. Michael Tuckson, September 2011. 5. Companies Address Climate Change, April 8, 2011, www.api.org 6. The Race Against Climate Change, December 12, 2005, www.businessweek.com 7. National Geographic News: Global Warming Fast Facts 8. www.globalwarming.com :Singapore: A leader in creating greener industry 9. The Causes of Global Warming, By Deborah White, www.about.com

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