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Statistical approximation of high-dimensional climate models

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  • Miftakhova, Alena
  • Judd, Kenneth L.
  • Lontzek, Thomas S.
  • Schmedders, Karl

Abstract

We propose a general emulation method for constructing low-dimensional approximations of complex dynamic climate models. Our method uses artificially designed uncorrelated CO2 emissions scenarios, which are much better suited for the construction of an emulator than are conventional emissions scenarios. We apply our method to the climate model MAGICC to approximate the impact of emissions on global temperature. Comparing the temperature forecasts of MAGICC and our emulator, we show that the average relative out-of-sample forecast errors in the low-dimensional emulation models are below 2%. Our emulator offers an avenue to merge modern macroeconomic models with complex dynamic climate models.

Suggested Citation

  • Miftakhova, Alena & Judd, Kenneth L. & Lontzek, Thomas S. & Schmedders, Karl, 2020. "Statistical approximation of high-dimensional climate models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 214(1), pages 67-80.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:214:y:2020:i:1:p:67-80
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2019.05.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Dietz & Frederick van der Ploeg & Armon Rezai & Frank Venmans, 2021. "Are Economists Getting Climate Dynamics Right and Does It Matter?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(5), pages 895-921.
    2. Arik Sadeh & Claudia Florina Radu & Cristina Feniser & Andrei Borşa, 2020. "Governmental Intervention and Its Impact on Growth, Economic Development, and Technology in OECD Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-30, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Greenhouse gas; Orthogonal polynomials; Single equation models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • C20 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - General

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