Re:The World Solved Acid Rain. We Can Also Solve Climate Change
by RetroTechie on Friday October 27, 2023 @04:16PM
(#38043352)
Solving acid rain & CFCs was (relatively) cheap & easy to implement. And: effects visible within decades.
Decarbonizing our world's economies otoh is a much much bigger project. Running across many sectors & involving big upfront investments. And even if GHG emissions were cut to 0 today, effect of higher CO2 will last for centuries. If no irreversible tripping points are hit.
Note that in any case NO effort was made to remove substances from the environment. Only cut emissions.
So yeah, one can be hopeful. But we'll be in for a rough ride anyway.
Decarbonizing our world's economies otoh is a much much bigger project. Running across many sectors & involving big upfront investments. And even if GHG emissions were cut to 0 today, effect of higher CO2 will last for centuries. If no irreversible tripping points are hit.
Note that in any case NO effort was made to remove substances from the environment. Only cut emissions.
So yeah, one can be hopeful. But we'll be in for a rough ride anyway.