Meanings

We used to say “climate change” - a fairly unemotional term that didn’t suggest much beyond differences in weather in different locations. Many of us were even hard pressed to know the difference between weather and climate,- including a certain defeated president - but then the media shifted to “global warming”. What we are hearing more often lately are words like “emergency” and “catastrophe” - and rightly so. We need to feel threatened if we intend to do something about it.

Remember “greenhouse effect”? We don’t hear that one any more. Linguists like Todd Ehresmann at Babbel, which checks word usage, points out that “Global Heating” would get our attention as an accurate description now. Activists have helped increase the intensity of the language. That’s helpful because scientists are often cautious knowing the media will exaggerate their claims to sell products through fear - not to arouse the best in us. It’s good that activists lobby for the proper degree of accuracy - and that media watchers like Babbel ensure that we take responsibility for the changes that are happening.