Broader approaches are necessary for formulating evidence-based climate policies

Alok Bhargava

MPRC Faculty Associate Alok Bhargava has recently published two articles on the need for adopting broader analytical and quantitative frameworks for formulating evidence-based climate policies.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has underscored the role of reducing greenhouse gas emissions for containing increases in global average temperatures to below 1.5 degrees centigrade. However, for meeting such targets and for enhancing global sustainability, comprehensive analyses of longitudinal data on climatic indicators are essential.

First, Dr. Bhargava in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A finds that it is important to distinguish between increases in seasonal (quarterly) temperatures in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and also take into account the role of oceans in absorbing carbon dioxide emissions (Bhargava, 2022).

In the second article in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Dr. Bhargava finds that sea surface temperatures are increasing in both hemispheres and sea ice concentrations are declining so that the Earth's heating rate is likely to rapidly increase in the future (Bhargava & Echenique, 2022). Thus, policy makers need to adopt broader strategies for reducing increases in ambient and sea surface temperatures. These include promoting greater renewable energy generation, and reductions in population growth, wasteful consumption, and dumping of agricultural and industrial pollutants into rivers and oceans.

 

Read the full articles below:

Bhargava, A. (2022). Econometric modelling of carbon dioxide emissions and concentrations, ambient temperatures and ocean deoxygenation. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society). https://doi.org/10.1111/rssa.12732

Bhargava, A., & Echenique, J. A. (2022). An econometric analysis of sea surface temperatures, sea ice concentrations and ocean surface current velocities. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(12), 1854. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10121854

Published on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 10:04