The Climate /Carbon Conundrum: Should Carbon Dioxide Emissions Be Reduced or Allowed to Rise Steadily?

The ongoing debate on climate change and an urgent need to curb worldwide CO2 , has reached a feverish pitch. Various environmentalist groups, policymakers and climate specialists are calling for urgent action to curb (CO2 ) emissions in order to avoid catastrophic consequences of future warming of the earth’s climate. Numerous climate organizations of “Western Nations (alternately “Rich Nations”) have developed elaborate plans to curb carbon dioxide emissions by allocating extensive funding to reduce emissions. These suggestions are often referred to as “Climate Action Plans”. The focus of these Climate Action Plans is based on the basic tenet that an increase in CO₂ emissions leads to the warming of the earth’s climate setting off a domino effect by an increase in weather extremes, leading to economic damages to the infrastructure and human life. There are several issues in the present climate change debate which are not well analyzed nor fully understood especially due to large uncertainties associated with many of the issues.