Scientists Just Found Who's Causing Global Warming
futurism.com
A new study observes economic patterns related to climate change in order to find the staggering amount of emissions pumped out by the rich.
  • zeezee@slrpnk.net
    81·
    2 days ago

    btw the top 10% is 800 million people so if you’re from the west you’re more than likely part of that figure.

    doesn’t mean it’s your fault but if you’re not actively doing something to prevent it then you are part of the problem…

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
    34·
    3 days ago

    It’s ironic when you think about human history … at one point in human development, there was a population bottleneck where there were only a few thousand individuals that we are all descended from. It basically means that we owe our present world to the survival of a few thousand people.

    Now it seems our species will die out because of the greed of a small percentage of our population.

    We came into being because of a few … and we will die out because of a few.

    • wether@slrpnk.net
      6·
      2 days ago

      Pretty much no serious authority on climate predicts that global warming will lead to human extinction. The collapse of what we know as civilisation, perhaps, and even some kind of mass death event, but our species outright ending? Zero chance. Not to say that those who endure as a relict population upon an overheated, polluted, and scarred Earth will be having a great time or anything

    • running_ragged@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 days ago

      It’ll create a new bottleneck for sure, but I expect there to be a few communities built up by the richest of the rich to survive with as much comfortable as possible. A large number of the survivors will be their serfs, essential staff to maintain their comfort in exchange for a chance to survive.

  • selkiesidhe@lemm.ee
    3·
    2 days ago

    Then maybe the ninety percent need to sue the ten percent for threatening their lives???

    Where can we all sign up? These parasites need to go

  • kamenLady.@lemmy.world
    3·
    3 days ago

    I remember reading something similar a while back, surely with less data available for the study, but it concluded the same and I’m pretty certain that those 10% know it and don’t give a flying fuck.

      • MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        8·
        3 days ago

        To be considered in the richest 10% of the world population, you would need a net worth of approximately $130,000 (as of late 2024). I don’t personally know anybody just sitting on 130k of money and assets. If you are, good for you, but many of us are not.

        The chances of an average American being in that group is comparatively high compared to much of the world (around 50%), but still on the “Chances are…” forgone conclusion of your comment

        • FlexibleToast@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          3 days ago

          That’s just about everyone that owns a home. And, you better have something much more than that if you plan to ever retire. In the US, $130k is both a lot and nowhere near enough.

          • tomkatt@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            3 days ago

            This. I make around $125k, and can acknowledge I’m an outlier. Admittedly, I work in the tech field and know plenty of folks probably making more. But it’s not “rich” money, it’s like…. 1990 middle class money, maybe.

            I had a house built in 2021, 1050 sq/ft for a bit over $200k, and even that was only feasible because:

            1. It’s in rural bumfuck
            2. I can work remotely, so the move was possible.
            3. It’s a small house, just me and my wife.
            4. I keep costs low and still live like I make 60-70k.

            If I still had to be tied to the city due to my career, I’m not sure I’d be able to afford it. The cheapest shithole of a place would cost more than twice what I paid for my house, and rent was the same and more. It’s utterly insane. Even moving to a more rural/ex-urban area, buying an old run down house that needed major work would have cost about the same as having my new home built and owning the land under it; it’s crazy.

            I had to wait 11 months for the build to finish but it was worth it, got me out of this insane rat race. I don’t want to care about money, but that’s just life in a capitalist system.

            • FlexibleToast@lemmy.worldEnglish
              6·
              3 days ago

              The thing is, they didn’t say earn $130k, they said have $130k of wealth. If your retirement account is below that, you’re not retiring for a long while. With the exception of the few that have pensions.

              • tomkatt@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                3 days ago

                I probably have that or a bit more if you account the house appreciation and my savings, but I’m not selling or moving, and with costs that’s nowhere close to what I’d need to retire.

                Assuming my current living standard and estimating costs cautiously at 70k annual without accounting for inflation, I’d need around 2.4 million to retire today, and that’s assuming I only live into my 70s. No way that’s happening without a powerball ticket, but thankfully I’ve got more than a few years left in me before retirement age.

                • FlexibleToast@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  3·
                  2 days ago

                  Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by it’s both a lot and nowhere near enough. I also work in tech and I know I earn more than most, I own a duplex, I max my retirement accounts every year. I have well over the $130k, but I’m still 20 years away from having enough to retire. It’s crazy that we have to essentially be in the top 10% of earners in the country to feel like we can actually retire one day. The system is fundamentally broken.

          • MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            4·
            3 days ago

            I don’t and do not know anybody that owns a home. That seems like a thing from a bygone era to me tbh, and I accepted a LONG time ago that I will die working. There’s no way, even with the magic of compound interest, that I could save enough to retire without starving to death.

            • FlexibleToast@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 days ago

              Us older millenials only recently started buying homes. I don’t know if gen z, or let alone gen alpha, will ever get the chance outside of the obscenely wealthy.

      • Catoblepas
        1·
        3 days ago

        In the United States, the top 1 percent of households control 80 percent of company assets — the average person reading this has no way of ending the coal industry’s devastating reign over Appalachia, for example. That’s a decision to be made by shareholders and executives looming over us from the top of the pyramid.