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Adapting to Sea Level Rise: A Dynamic Approach

Today, the gradual rise in sea levels is making storms ever more dangerous. How can coastal cities respond? In this presentation, Robert Mendelsohn ’78 PhD, the Edwin Weyerhauser Davis Professor of Forest Policy at the Yale School of the Environment, will step us through a dynamic approach that shoreline communities can take to protect themselves over time. As Prof. Mendelsohn will explain, the good news is that adaptation is effective; the bad news is that current federal policy discourages effective adaptation. He looks forward to taking our questions at the end of his talk.

Mendelsohn, who also holds full professorships in the Yale School of Management and the Department of Economics, has been on the Yale faculty since 1983, and has been a prolific author and editor on topics at the intersection of business and the environment. He earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laudefrom Harvard in 1973 and his PhD in Economics from Yale in 1978. Some of the courses he has taught in recent years include Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; the Economics of Global Warming; Putting an Economic Value on the Environment; and the Economics of Pollution.

Professor Mendelsohn has written over one hundred peer-reviewed articles and edited six books. The focus of his research has been the valuation of the environment. He has developed methods to value natural ecosystems including coral reefs, old-growth forests, non-timber forest products, ecotourism, and outdoor recreation. With colleagues, he has also developed methods to value pollution including emissions of criteria pollutants (such as particulates and sulfur dioxide) and hazardous waste sites. His most recent work values the impacts of greenhouse gases, including the effects of climate change on agriculture, forests, water resources, energy, and coasts. This research carefully integrates adaptation into impact assessment and has recently been extended to developing countries around the world. He has also been involved in studies of nonrenewable resources, forest management, and specifically carbon sequestration in forests.

Professor Mendelsohn is a fellow of Ezra Stiles College.