21 November 2019 - Oxford Dictionaries declare "climate emergency" word of the year
Word of the Year 2019
(Oxford Dictionaries)
The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression shown through usage evidence to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance.
The Oxford Word of the Year 2019 is climate emergency.
Climate emergency is defined as ‘a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it.’
Oxford Dictionaries declares 'climate emergency' the word of 2019
Naaman Zhou (The Guardian, 21/11/2019)
Oxford Dictionaries has declared “climate emergency” the word of the year for 2019, following a hundred-fold increase in usage that it says demonstrated a “greater immediacy” in the way we talk about the climate.
Defined as “a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it”, Oxford said the words soared from “relative obscurity” to “one of the most prominent – and prominently debated – terms of 2019.”
According to the dictionary’s data, usage of “climate emergency” soared 10,796%.
Scientists Around the World Declare ‘Climate Emergency’
Avery Thompson (Smithonian.com, 05/11/2019)
The world’s scientists are increasingly worried about our civilization’s reluctance to tackle climate change, so in a paper released today, thousands of them are raising the alarm.
In a report published in the journal BioScience, over 11,000 of the world’s leading climate scientists have added their names to a declaration calling the planet’s current warming trends a “climate emergency.” Titled “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency,” the paper takes an urgent tone, detailing a dire situation that will require extreme responses to avert disaster.
“As a scientist, I feel that I must speak out about climate change, since it is such a severe threat to humanity,” says Bill Ripple, an ecologist at Oregon State University and lead author of the new report. In addition to a warning about the future, Ripple, his co-authors and the 11,258 other people who attached their names to the paper suggest a set of tools to make sense of our changing world.
3 ways cities can prepare for climate emergencies
Ryan Plummer (The Conversation, 15/11/2019)
Cities are on the front line of climate change. While their footprints cover a mere two per cent of the Earth’s surface, they consume 78 per cent of global energy and account for over 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 80 per cent of Canadians reside in urban areas and this trend is accelerating. Critically, a recent study found that most Canadian cities are ill-prepared to manage the impacts of climate change.
Canadians are increasingly standing up against the devastating impacts of climate change. In June 2019, the House of Commons declared a national climate emergency. In September, more than six million people around the world joined Greta Thunberg to stage a global strike for climate. And during this fall’s federal election, voters across the country made every party realize that climate policy is an urgent issue for people of all ages.