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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 | 2 comments | 17 Nov 24 18:49 UTC | HN request time: 1.468s | source
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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. lotsofpulp ◴[17 Nov 24 19:19 UTC] No.42166308[source]▶
It is a wealth transfer from people who currently have cash and earn cash (workers, since increases in pay lag the rate at which currency loses purchasing power) to people who have assets and COLA adjusted annuities (wealthy people and old people).
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2. Schiendelman ◴[17 Nov 24 23:12 UTC] No.42168195[source]▶
Assets and cola adjusted annuities also lag. They may lag less, but that's a discussion to have.

Real median wages have gone up more than inflation has over the last few years. It's just not evenly distributed.