Climate change is a geographical phenomenon; it refers to changes ...

[washai]

Climate change is a geographical phenomenon; it refers to changes in the distribution of climatic events, such as temperature or the likelihood of tornadoes. Why is it important for economists to study climate change?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Is optimization analysis positive or normative, or both? Explain your answer.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[TheDev123]

Answer to Question 1

Analyzing the economics of climate change is an important step in understanding how to mitigate the effects of climate change. This is because activities that potentially cause man-made climate change are economic in nature and relate to our production and consumption activities. Efforts to reduce man-made climate change will involve economically costly activities, and to determine how to do this optimally requires cost-benefit analysis. Whether we may be able to harness new technologies in order to avoid environmental risks without having to reduce our consumption and production significantly is also related to the economic analysis of technological change.
A-head: ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Concept: Climate change

Answer to Question 2

Optimization is a good positive (that is, descriptive) model of economic behavior in most, though not all, situations. Sometimes people fail to optimize, for example, when they use average net benefit instead of marginal net benefit to make a choice. On the other hand, optimization is always a useful normative model. People will be better off if they are taught to optimize.