Ecological/environmental problems are rapidly solved when they are localized in space, localized in time, and responsibility is easy to trace (Love Canal, acid rain, smog in Los Angeles)—but climate change represents the worst case scenario because it is diffuse globally, occurs over decades to centuries, and causation is distributed across all economic actors, making rapid collective action nearly impossible.
causalpending
Speaker
Nathan MervoldEvidence Quote
“whenever we have a problem that is an ecological problem that is localized in space localized in time and is easy to trace responsibility we fix it...now you get to climate change...you have the worst of all situations”
Source
A Technologist's Guide to the Future | Nathan Myhrvold | Knowledge Project Podcast— The Knowledge Project PodcastCreated: 8/10/2026, 11:20:41 PM
My Notes
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