Title: Integrated assessment: rhetoric of models and perceptions of world futures

Authors: Pierre Matarasso

Addresses: CIRED-CNRS-EHESS, Jardin Tropical, 45 bis avenue de la Belle Gabrielle, 94736 Nogent sur Marne Cedex, France

Abstract: Integrated assessment of climate change implies the construction of models describing the very complex interactions among economic processes, geochemical or geophysical phenomena and ecological processes at the Earth level. This attempt is unprecedented in the history of science. To build models of a unique, very large and extremely complex object, the whole Earth, supposes the definition of concepts allowing the comparison of these models through their structures and not only comparisons of their numerical results. The purpose of this paper is to give some preliminary elements of such a structural comparison.

Keywords: anticipations; climate change; global change; integrated assessment; integrated models; optimisation; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.1999.002270

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 1999 Vol.11 No.4, pp.447-461

Published online: 13 Aug 2003 *

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