Ice is disappearing from both poles, oceans are warming, and countries all over the globe are facing record-breaking temperatures. Earth is getting warmer, meanwhile, extreme weather and climate events are increasing.
Extreme weather is when weather is significantly different from the usual weather pattern; drought, flooding, heatwaves, and wildfires are examples of extreme weather events. All of these events are emerging and increasing due to climate change, or perhaps we should start referring to it as climate emergency. But what is the difference?
In her article “Language matters when the Earth is in the midst of a climate crisis”, author Madhur Anand pointed out the importance of the language used when discussing emergencies such as climate change; this term “refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns and other measures of climate that occur over several decades or longer”. However, the term “climate change” does not reflect its broader impact nor the seriousness of the actual situation.
Emergency (noun): A serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.
Oxford American Dictionary
Media has a significant impact on the public’s behaviors; not only it is a source of information, but also the most important communication tool during an emergency. Therefore, it is very common to see the term “emergency” linked with extreme weather events on television and scientific articles. The term “emergency” alerts people to the danger of the situation, thus pushes them to act immediately. Climate change, however, is rarely linked with the term “emergency” although it mainly causes extreme weather events.
The language we use affects the way we think, which initiates behaviors. Anand mentions in her article: “I know how cautious scientists can be in their communications. That is precisely why those words [Rapid, Far-reaching, Unprecedented] were sufficient to evoke an emotional response”. This explains why people took immediate action when COVID-19 was announced by the WHO as a pandemic; it reflected the seriousness of the virus, thus triggered people’s fears.
The language used by media, politicians, and governments to describe climate crisis is important; adopting the terms climate emergency or climate crisis is the first step to remind the public that this is a serious, dangerous situation and requires immediate change. In fact, we –people- are the real solution.
I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.
– Greta Thunberg, young climate activist
I love this article! I never realized that word choice matters so much in dealing with world issues, but you raised good points. In fact, when we think about it, the word “change” in climate change doesn’t clarify that it’s bad, just that it’s changing. And global warming for instance. One might not understand why the Earth getting warmer is a bad thing, but if we call it a crisis or emergency, then we understand better. Imagine if we called Yemen’s or Lebanon’s crisis a “financial shift” instead of humanitarian crisis, then how would we think about it?
I really liked your tone in this. Something of such importance should be dealt with this level of seriousness. Good job 🙂