A newly written book by MIT Sloan economist Robert S. Pindyck argues that despite efforts to reduce emissions around the world, severe climate change is likely to be inevitable in the not-too-distant future, and individuals and organizations need to invest now in strategies and technologies that will help people adapt to rising temperatures and sea levels.

Climate Future: Averting and Adapting to Climate Change explains what is and isn’t known about climate change and what we can do to prepare for a possible climate catastrophe. According to MIT Sloan, the author has studied the economic and policy implications of global catastrophic events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and, from this, he lists some recommendations of how we can work to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Check it out:

What we can do

• Stop government insurance programs that subsidize the construction of homes and businesses in flood-prone and wildfire-prone areas
• Change building codes to reduce vulnerability to flooding
• Build more levees and seawalls, which already protect around 15 percent of the U.S. coastline from erosion, rising sea levels, and the effects of hurricanes
• Pursue solar geoengineering, which aims to reflect solar energy back into space to cool the planet
• Protect and enhance natural barriers to flooding such as coastal wetlands, dunes, coral reefs, and maritime vegetation
• Develop new heat- and drought-resistant crops
• Plant more trees and continue to pursue carbon-sequestration technologies
• Pursue nuclear energy as well as renewables

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Source: MIT Sloan