As I look out of the window at yet another rainy day, it occurs to me that we missed an opportunity to get climate change taken seriously. Here in Britain, ‘global warming’ often sounds rather nice. An opportunity to improve domestic vineyards, perhaps, and make wines here like the Romans used to do. Or to save on air fares to the south of France… I know some have argued that ‘global heating’ is a better phrase, for just that reason: it’s a bit less cozy.
But since, for many people, warmer temperatures will mean increased precipitation, I think we should also consider names like ‘Global Drenching’ or ‘Universal Drizzle’. That sounds more like something we would want to avoid in the home counties, and might spur people to action.
Right. Action. I’m off to buy shares in Gore-Tex…