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I must be the only one in the world who thinks that climate change, despite being a big issue, will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful

I must be the only one in the world who thinks that climate change, despite being a big issue, will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful way. I think once the rubber meets the road we'll resolve and completely reverse climate change. That being said I might be too confident in our species' engineering ability.

echlebek 5y ago
No chance. Once the most cloistered people in our world are materially impacted, it will be far too late to mount any kind of response. It might already be too late.
throwaway20875 5y ago
>will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful way. I think you're not thinking critically enough on who it will be solved for.
staticassertion 5y ago
Seems like this relies on tons of big assumptions. Like that climate change will negatively impact rich people in power in a reasonable timeline. Rich people may even benefit from climate change in the short term, since during an economic downturn they can move their assets around, take risks, buy cheaper labor, etc, while everyone else is scrambling.
deleted 5y ago
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simias 5y ago
Rich humans will be the ones for whom it'll be most easy to avoid the consequences of climate change for a long time. By the time rich people really start suffering we'll probably be way past the point of no return.
- xiphias2 5y ago
  Actually it's poor people who suffer both short and long term consequences the most. To tell you the truth I wouldn't even notice if my electricity bill went up by 20% because of switching to renewables, as I don't know how much it is usually.
77pt77 5y ago
> will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful way. Will seriously try to be resolved, but with no guarantees.
unchocked 5y ago
We could engineer out global warming, but that's just one part of climate change. It might need to be an all-of-the-above type response, including decarbonization, negative emissions, geoengineering and adaptation.
nradov 5y ago
Rich people will mainly be impacted by the forced migration of climate refugees from impacted countries. Will they be allowed to emigrate from regions beset by flooding (coastal areas), drought (inland areas), and the resulting crop failures?
skybrian 5y ago
This ignores evidence from previous experience. You could compare with how rich countries handled the pandemic, and then consider that the pandemic was relatively easy with new vaccine candidates almost immediately ready for testing. Also compare with how we handle various natural disasters. What is California doing about wildfires? The rich people in Malibu still lose their homes. How about preparing for drought? What is Houston doing about hurricanes? Is Texas ready for the next winter storm? Rich people will handle this with their own disaster preparation (sometimes) and moving if necessary.
nairoz 5y ago
While encouraging to think that some people will have the power to reverse climate change, it will be too late. We can't wait for the negative effects to reach rich people.
Jorge1o1 5y ago
Well, I think there already some geoengineering solutions that —- if worst comes to worst —- look like they might be effective in combating climate change albeit at the cost of unknown and potentially serious side effects. I definitely think the US will pull the trigger on stratosphere aerosol injection and other geoengineering technologies before letting Miami go underwater. But... this debate has been going on a long time https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6450358 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6450358
- bbojan 5y ago
  This won't do anything to help ocean acidification for example.
lm28469 5y ago
I doubt this is a "move fast and break things" kind of situation. You don't think about driving slower during the 20ms between the impact and the airbag hitting your face do you ?
JTbane 5y ago
Rich people will likely just move to higher elevations and not much else.

echlebek 5y ago

No chance. Once the most cloistered people in our world are materially impacted, it will be far too late to mount any kind of response. It might already be too late.

throwaway20875 5y ago

>will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful way. I think you're not thinking critically enough on who it will be solved for.

staticassertion 5y ago

Seems like this relies on tons of big assumptions. Like that climate change will negatively impact rich people in power in a reasonable timeline. Rich people may even benefit from climate change in the short term, since during an economic downturn they can move their assets around, take risks, buy cheaper labor, etc, while everyone else is scrambling.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

simias 5y ago

Rich humans will be the ones for whom it'll be most easy to avoid the consequences of climate change for a long time. By the time rich people really start suffering we'll probably be way past the point of no return.

xiphias2 5y ago
Actually it's poor people who suffer both short and long term consequences the most. To tell you the truth I wouldn't even notice if my electricity bill went up by 20% because of switching to renewables, as I don't know how much it is usually.

77pt77 5y ago

> will be resolved if it ever harms (rich) humans in any meaningful way. Will seriously try to be resolved, but with no guarantees.

unchocked 5y ago

We could engineer out global warming, but that's just one part of climate change. It might need to be an all-of-the-above type response, including decarbonization, negative emissions, geoengineering and adaptation.

nradov 5y ago

Rich people will mainly be impacted by the forced migration of climate refugees from impacted countries. Will they be allowed to emigrate from regions beset by flooding (coastal areas), drought (inland areas), and the resulting crop failures?

skybrian 5y ago

This ignores evidence from previous experience. You could compare with how rich countries handled the pandemic, and then consider that the pandemic was relatively easy with new vaccine candidates almost immediately ready for testing. Also compare with how we handle various natural disasters. What is California doing about wildfires? The rich people in Malibu still lose their homes. How about preparing for drought? What is Houston doing about hurricanes? Is Texas ready for the next winter storm? Rich people will handle this with their own disaster preparation (sometimes) and moving if necessary.

nairoz 5y ago

While encouraging to think that some people will have the power to reverse climate change, it will be too late. We can't wait for the negative effects to reach rich people.

Jorge1o1 5y ago

Well, I think there already some geoengineering solutions that —- if worst comes to worst —- look like they might be effective in combating climate change albeit at the cost of unknown and potentially serious side effects. I definitely think the US will pull the trigger on stratosphere aerosol injection and other geoengineering technologies before letting Miami go underwater. But... this debate has been going on a long time https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6450358 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6450358

bbojan 5y ago
This won't do anything to help ocean acidification for example.

lm28469 5y ago

I doubt this is a "move fast and break things" kind of situation. You don't think about driving slower during the 20ms between the impact and the airbag hitting your face do you ?

JTbane 5y ago

Rich people will likely just move to higher elevations and not much else.