Adaptation to Climate Change: Evidence from US Agriculture

53 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2012

See all articles by Marshall Burke

Marshall Burke

University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Kyle Emerick

University of California, Berkeley

Date Written: September 11, 2012

Abstract

Understanding the potential impacts of climate change on economic outcomes requires knowledge of how economic agents might adapt to a changing climate. We exploit large variation in recent trends in temperature and precipitation to identify adaptation to climate change in US agriculture. We provide quantitative estimates of how much adaptation has occurred in response to recent warming, and use this information to generate new estimates of the potential impact of future climate change on agricultural outcomes. Adaptation among major US crops to recent warming appears limited, implying substantial losses under future climate change in the absence of countervailing investments.

Keywords: climate change, adaptation, climate impacts, agriculture

JEL Classification: N5, O13, Q1, Q54

Suggested Citation

Burke, Marshall and Emerick, Kyle, Adaptation to Climate Change: Evidence from US Agriculture (September 11, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2144928 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2144928

Marshall Burke (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

310 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Kyle Emerick

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

310 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

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