THE NATURE OF THINGS
It dawned on me a few weeks ago that nobody ever refers to "Global Warming". It is always, 95% of the time, called "Climate Change". This happened recently. Why? I'm guessing that the phenomena previously known as "Global Warming" isn't proven - we may be going through a "Solar-Flare Phase", for example - whereas "Climate Change" covers all bases in the event that increasing temperatures are attributable to a natural agent. This shift has a ring of political correctness about it. "Global Warming" sounds definite and serious; "Climate Change" on the other hand is more subtle, less threatening. "Climate Change" sounds relatively benevolent - a climate is localised and limited, and "Change" doesn't specify in which direction. Let's not shirk the reality of the situation in an attempt to make it more palatable.
It dawned on me a few weeks ago that nobody ever refers to "Global Warming". It is always, 95% of the time, called "Climate Change". This happened recently. Why? I'm guessing that the phenomena previously known as "Global Warming" isn't proven - we may be going through a "Solar-Flare Phase", for example - whereas "Climate Change" covers all bases in the event that increasing temperatures are attributable to a natural agent. This shift has a ring of political correctness about it. "Global Warming" sounds definite and serious; "Climate Change" on the other hand is more subtle, less threatening. "Climate Change" sounds relatively benevolent - a climate is localised and limited, and "Change" doesn't specify in which direction. Let's not shirk the reality of the situation in an attempt to make it more palatable.
