The physics, economics, and political economy of climate risk

Bauer, Adam Michael

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129372 Copy

Description

Title

The physics, economics, and political economy of climate risk

Author(s)

Bauer, Adam Michael

Issue Date

2025-04-03

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Proistosescu, Cristian

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Sriver, Ryan

Committee Member(s)

• Gammie, Charles F
• Wagner, Gernot
• Droegemeier, Kelvin K

Department of Study

Physics

Discipline

Physics

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• climate risk
• climate economics
• climate science
• climate change
• risk
• political economy

Abstract

A holistic treatment of the issue of climate change-related risk requires merging three topics from natural and social science: climate physics, economics, and the political economy. In this thesis, I discuss each of these aspects of the issue of climate change in isolation and in tandem. In particular, I present physical models for how soil moisture influences temperature extremes and how we may learn climate sensitivity from new observations in the future. I formulate and solve numerous integrated climate-economy models, including an asset pricing-based approach to carbon taxation and a model for how political economy constraints influence optimal decarbonization investment strategies. Each of these papers is meant to shed light on the myriad dimensions of the climate issue, discuss limitations in our current approaches, and provide insight into what can be done in the future.

Graduation Semester

2025-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129372

Copyright and License Information

2024, Adam Michael Bauer

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