Perspectives and the Subjective Dimension in Modelling

Any exploration of future developments inevitably involves a considerable degree of uncertainty and Integrated Assessment (IA) modelling is no exception. As described in the previous chapters the uncertainties pertaining to the climate issue are fundamental. These uncertainties are inherent to the study of climate change, because of the following characteristics: a)climate change is a global issue with long term impactsb)the available data is lamentably inadequate, andc)the underlying phenomena, being novel, complex and variable, are themselves not well understood.