IS IT ONE? IS IT BOTH? IS IT NEITHER? WHERE DID THE TERMS COME FROM?
Global warming is a PART of climate change. There are other changes that occur with climate aside from warming land and oceans. They are both correct terms. But one sounds scarier than the other. And that’s why there is so much confusion and controversy about the use of those terms.
Frank Luntz, a controversial figure is known mostly as a Republican pollster and consultant for decades. He is the person most tied to the “change” of the increasingly accepted term “global warming” into the term he recommended – “climate change” back in 2002. He made the recommendation to President George W. Bush and it is now used widely in discussions of climate. His research showed that “climate change is less threatening than global warming.” As more evidence of his brilliant use of different terms for political issues, he is also credited for suggesting changing:
“Inheritance tax” to “death tax”
“Health care reform” to “government takeover of health care”
….and others.
BUT HE DIDN’T INVENT THE TERM – IT GOES WAAAAY BACK….
Luntz wasn’t the first to use the term “climate change,” but he did help popularize it.
The term apparently goes back to at least 1961, when the top climate scientist for the U.S., J. Murray Mitchell used BOTH “climate change” and “global warming” in a paper. His first use of the term “climate change” may even go back to 1953 (see the article on the highly respected website “Skeptical Science”):
https://skepticalscience.com/origin_of_global_warming.html
The climate “denialsphere” argument that “THEY” (meaning climate “alarmists”) changed the term because THEY realized “global warming” was too extreme is simply wrong. If anyone “changed it,” it was Luntz and the people he influenced.
As the word cloud above shows, climate change is about much more than rising temperatures. Drought, glaciers, permafrost, snowpack, sea-level rise, and floods are all included. It certainly looks like “climate change” is the more appropriate term when discussing the affects of increasing greenhouse gases. But it as Luntz suggested, it doesn’t communicate the climate danger levels that are approaching (or already here). So, I like to use the term “climate crisis,” even though it was popularized by Al Gore more than 20 years ago. He is a polarizing figure in climate discussions (the subject of a future blog, no doubt), but it’s the most appropriate term to use. Some scientists are even going further, calling it a “climate emergency.” “Emergency” may indeed be the most appropriate term.
EVEN LUNTZ CHANGED HIS TUNE!
Luntz’s suggestion on climate wording has been recently disputed – by HIM! In 2019 he testified before a Senate climate panel. “I was wrong in 2001…..people stop using something I wrote 18 years ago, because it’s not accurate today.”
His shift was reported to be due to the 2017 California wildfires that threatened his house. Now he believes relating such personal stories will convince more people of the climate dangers than using complex and misunderstood scientific statements.
But how many deniers know the whole, real story?
