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Humans have caused 1.5 °C of long-term global warming according to new estimates

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399 points gmays | 6 comments | 17 Nov 24 18:49 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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oezi ◴[17 Nov 24 19:06 UTC] No.42166179[source]▶
Looking into the numbers a couple if months ago I was surprised how little it costs to stop climate change.

On the order of 100-200 trillion USD. Which is roughly 100-200% of global yearly GDP. Or 2-5% of yearly GDP until 2050. This could well be provided by printing money at all the federal reserve banks.

This investment will likely bring in a positive return on investment because it reduces the negative climate impacts.

Without such investments the downstream costs in climate change adaptation will be very expensive

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richardwhiuk ◴[17 Nov 24 19:08 UTC] No.42166197[source]▶
Printing money wouldn't work - you just make all of the existing money less valuable.
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Schiendelman ◴[17 Nov 24 19:09 UTC] No.42166208[source]▶
That doesn't mean the new money doesn't have value, just has a small percentage less value. It's a wealth transfer from people who currently have money to the new money. It works out well for people who have a negative net worth, as well!
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1. kreetx ◴[17 Nov 24 19:11 UTC] No.42166231[source]▶
Yeah, the salaried folk who find out in hindsight will be really happy as well. /s
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2. Schiendelman ◴[17 Nov 24 23:12 UTC] No.42168202[source]▶
I don't think sarcastic comments really help, people who aren't capable of having real conversations about this already bring enough of that. It is definitely worth talking openly about whether it's worth trading short term inflationary pain for long-term climate pain.
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3. kreetx ◴[18 Nov 24 13:17 UTC] No.42172059[source]▶
I guess you're right. The parent speaks of inflation as if printing money is the new norm. If you are going to take money from your citizens then be upfront about it!
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4. Schiendelman ◴[18 Nov 24 14:04 UTC] No.42172347{3}[source]▶
All the money we have was printed. Printing money has always been the norm, it's just a matter of how much - at what rate.
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5. kreetx ◴[25 Nov 24 11:01 UTC] No.42235170{4}[source]▶
You can print but still have a cap, see Bitcoin.
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6. Schiendelman ◴[01 Dec 24 13:45 UTC] No.42288431{5}[source]▶
We do have a cap. It's not even clear to me that the federal government prints more slowly than bitcoin as a percentage of issued currency.