Paying the piper on global warming

It's the environmental equivalent of balloon payments on a mortgage: Countries may be saving money now with low spending on R&D to address global warming, but the costs down the line will be enormous.
Paying the piper

That's the gist of a new report from the British government, which warns that rising temperatures could devastate the global economy, shrinking it by 20 percent if governments don't spend now to address climate change. "This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday in unveiling the findings from economist Nicholas Stern. ""For every 1 pound invested now we can save 5 pounds, or possibly more."
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