Climate Change Study Predicting Dire Economic Damage Is Retracted

Outside researchers had raised questions about data in research published by Nature

By Aylin Woodward and Ed Ballard. Excerpts:

"The research, published last year in the prestigious journal Nature, projected that the world’s economic output would decline 62% by 2100"

"The study examined historical data from some 1,600 regions worldwide over the past four decades to project how changes in temperature and precipitation would affect economic growth, including factors like agricultural yields, labor productivity and infrastructure."

"economic data from one country—Uzbekistan—during a short time from 1995 to 1999 had skewed the results. Without Uzbekistan, the 2100 damage forecast fell to 23%, not 62%."

"Another researcher who wasn’t involved in the original work, Christof Schötz, said the results were more uncertain than the study suggested and published a separate critique in Nature in August."