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The albedo loss from the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the social cost of carbon

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  • Sandra Gschnaller

    (ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung)

Abstract

I extend the reduced Greenland ice sheet (GIS) model-module of DICE-GIS (Nordhaus, Proc Natl Acad Sci 25(116):12261–12269, 2019) by integrating snow-albedo feedback (SAF) and potential tipping of the ice sheet into the resuming DICE-GIS SAF model. The increasing global temperature no longer only results in the melting of the GIS, but also in albedo loss, which in turn impacts the strength of the SAF. As a consequence, global warming and the melting of the ice accelerate. The social cost of carbon (SCC) increases because the economic damages are not only related to intensified sea level rise, but also to accelerated global temperature rise. Accounting for the SAF raises the SCC from 37 to 41 $/t CO2 in 2020, an increase of 11%. The temperature increase is the key channel through which the SAF impacts the SCC. The long-term volume of the GIS decreases by 2%, while the additional inclusion of tipping reduces it further by up to 35%.

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  • Sandra Gschnaller, 2020. "The albedo loss from the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the social cost of carbon," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 2201-2231, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:163:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10584-020-02936-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02936-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "Estimates of the social cost of carbon have increased over time," Papers 2105.03656, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    2. Richard S.J. Tol, 2021. "Estimates of the social cost of carbon have not changed over time," Working Paper Series 0821, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

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