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Comment by Marha01 | Hacker News Reader

> We've been hearing some variant of "engineering will solve climate change when it becomes important enough, so we don't need to worry now" since the late 90s.

Well, it was true in the 90s, and it's still true today. Once climate change becomes important enough (that is, causing actual significant damage to important, wealthy countries), it takes just one such country to start a stratospheric aerosol injection project, or, if space launch costs become low enough, put a sunshade between Earth and the Sun. Such solutions have their own risks, of course. But if climate change really becomes bad, they will be tried. And from what I have read, they have a good change of succeeding.

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It will still be true another 30 years from now perhaps, but nobody who has the actual funds to spend seems to care. If the world was actually taking it seriously, it would be dealt with like the ozone hole was. Instead, we're still debating whether it's real, and if it's real whether it's important, and if it's important whether it is more important than - I don't know - pretty much anything else.

What qualifies as a rich nation anyway? Europe seems pretty rich, and they're melting. One would think the time is now.

> What qualifies as a rich nation anyway? Europe seems pretty rich, and they're melting. One would think the time is now.

They are still not melting enough. Most of the negative consequences of current summer heatwaves can be pretty much solved by installing US-style ubiquitous air conditioning.

Yup, as I said. Same as rich people do everywhere, they don't have to worry, they won't run out of water or power, if things get too hot where they are they'll just move somewhere nicer. They have the money and zero incentive to solve the actual problem.

An extremely wealthy acquaintance in my local circle is happy to endlessly debate whether climate change is ACTUALLY real or just scientists carving out job security, while flying out for monthly ski holidays wherever there's nice snow in the world when it gets a bit muggy at home.

It is already causing actual significant damage to important wealthy countries. Just not in a way that directly impacts the people with the means to make a significant impact.

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