How climate ‘change’ gave way to ‘crisis’ and ‘emergency’ – the evolution of language used to describe global warming … er, heating

The term ‘climate change’ has been in use since 1854, but in recent years has increasingly given way to ‘climate crisis’ and ‘climate emergency’
Indigenous languages contain expressions that speak to non-monetary systems of exchange that value ecology, and to human stewardship of nature

Lisa Lim

Published: 4:45am, 14 Jan 2022

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“It’s not climate change,” declared writer-activist Margaret Atwood in 2015 – “it’s everything change.” This certainly includes the language used in framing our thinking on climate and sustainability.

An articulation of the impact of human activity on global climate patterns has been present since the 19th century. The phrase “climate change” was first used in 1854 in an American popular-science magazine querying if observed changes might be ascribed to large-scale agricultural practices.

The “greenhouse effect” was described by French mathematician Joseph Fourier in 1827, with the expression first applied to this atmospheric phenomenon by English physicist J.H. Poynting in the 1900s. In the 1950s, the prospect of – and term for – “global warming” started receiving attention.

As environmental concerns became more urgent in the 2000s, so, too, did the terms adopted by climate scientists, activists, organisations such as the United Nations, and major press outlets: in place of “climate change” – too passive, too gentle – the terms “climate crisis” or “climate emergency” were adopted.

An illustration depicting the Black Country, an area of heavy industry in the English midlands, in the 19th century. ‘Climate change’ was coined in the middle of that century and the greenhouse effect described in 1827. Image: Getty Images

Their use increased 20-fold and 76-fold, respectively, between 2018 and 2020, with “climate crisis” increasing 40 per cent in usage last year, compared with previous years, according to data from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the Cambridge English Corpus.

The phrase “global heating” – preferred now to “global warming” – was used 15 times more in the first half of 2021 than in 2018, and recently added in the OED. Such expressions serve to convey a sense of imminent threat, reflect a negative emotional stance, and invoke an urgent call to action.

But consider alternative narratives to those of the global north. Scholars have long recognised that indigenous languages encompass traditional ecological knowledge, including strategies for sustainable living, offering unorthodox inspiration for tackling our environmental crisis.

‘Indigenous’ – our alternative word of the year

For the 2021 COP26 global climate summit, in a plea to Western leaders to shift their thinking to focus on humanity’s integration with and dependency on the natural world, the artistic project “living-language-land” identified 25 words from indigenous languages that underscore communities’ ties to the land.

The Quechua chalay, “the practice of barter and exchange”, for example, embodying the Andean concept of reciprocity, highlights the ancestral non-monetary economic system valuing ecology, relationships and the sacred nature of food.

The International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) lying before us is an opportunity to recognise and harness such value in pursuing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

In a word: the Maori kaitiakitanga – recently added to the OED – refers to the human duty or responsibility of environmental stewardship, a reminder that we are all agents in creating a sustainable future.

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