John - I don't have an example from history to give you. This climate breakdown is unprecedented and on such a global scale (and disproportionately) - I don't think humans have ever really experienced anything like this before, so we don't have examples or previous experience to help us. I feel like religion may have a place in helping us, or some of us, navigate this, but we have generally made a mess of that as well, in my opinion. I would probably say that the changes needed would have a consequence of improving standards of living, though we may need a mindset shift to warm up to that idea. My worry is that people won't really see the need for change until the disaster affects them directly, personally. These disasters have already been happening for some time, but until quite recently, elsewhere, and to 'other' people. But time is running out, the disasters are happening more frequently, they're more costly, and they're happening in the capitalist west now too. But as @Richard Crim notes in their comment, climate bombs and feedback loops like those posed by clathrates mean that we are very much at risk of imminent ecosystem collapse - so we need it all - tech, policy drivers, citizens embracing that change too - to speed up our efforts to avert the crisis. So my question to you is what would need to happen or to be in place for you view change positively?