On Earth’s own terms: Why we need new words for life in the climate crisis

We will need new words as the climate crisis unfolds — for the solutions we find, our new ways of life, the phenomena we encounter.

Already, the air in and above the stratosphere is cooling, even as the troposphere warms, fresh satellite data has shown. It is unclear what the impact of this will be on our climate, but we will likely need a term for this.

Meanwhile, in laboratories around the world, bacteria are being used to break down plastics in new ways, help make biofuels and enrich soil. We will need terms for these solutions, as they begin to be deployed more widely.

We’ll need words for the emotions we feel as our world changes. This matters, because language influences our worldview.

“New words don’t just validate an emotion, they help us process these implications of the climate emergency, collectively and individually,” says climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who works at the California Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA; all views expressed are his own, he insists).

Terms such as nonnapaura, one of those on the list alongside, validate the fear that grandmothers feel, as they watch their grandchildren play and grow. It’s a fear also felt by parents, godparents, families, communities.

Could words spur action? Think of the power of terms such as home, love, azadi.

Think of the devastating simplicity of Anthropocene, the proposed term for this era; an age so defined by human activity which has caused a distinct geological change.

This week, we’re looking at new words for the emotional experience of life within the climate crisis. Where are the new terms coming from? They’re being coined by scientists, artists, linguists, philosophers and writers around the world, and by everyday citizens participating in projects dedicated to naming what we’re feeling but don’t yet have the words for.

Artists Alicia Escott and Heidi Quante have been holding word salons and pop-up events in which they invite people to coin a phrase to describe a new emotion they have experienced in the climate crisis. Their project is called The Bureau of Linguistical Reality, and its website features new words crafted, defined and vetted in collaborative group efforts, at events conducted online and offline, involving people from a range of countries.

Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht has coined terms of his own, and presented them in his 2019 book, Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World.

In Germany, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (Association for the German Language), a government-funded research organisation, has been recognising new terms in that language, as they enter the mainstream, These include heisszeit (warm age), umweltauto (environment-friendly car) and klimakatastrophe (climate catastrophe).

The key is involving people, so that the eventual language is accessible and meaningful to them, says Quante. “There’s this dominant Western idea that only some people know things, and hence, only they’re in charge of knowledge. We need to remind people that every human is intelligent, every human is experiencing climate change, and every human has the right to express it in their own way.”

This is important because there is so much to be done; so much you can do.