climate change is not a buzzword

i remember years ago having conversations with other scientists about how if you wanted to get funded, you just needed to include the phrase “climate change”. i remember being in a science communication seminar series and feeling sick of hearing about the knowledge deficit, about how we needed to be doing a better job of communicating about climate change. i remember feeling sick of hearing about climate change, feeling tired of the buzzword like it was a song played on the radio too many times.

but somewhere within the past few years, i’ve realized that i had the wrong take on things. it’s definitely valid to be fatigued and grieving, but climate change is not a buzzword. climate change is not a buzzword the same way that “dinner” is not a buzzword. do we use the word “dinner” a lot? sure. do we consider it a buzzword? no. “what’s for dinner?” “i don’t know, what do you want for dinner” “whatcha having for dinner” “want to go get dinner?”

dinner is a crucial, repeating, and hear-to-stay honest-to-god REAL part of our lives.

climate change is not a buzzword because at this point climate change is a little like dinner. i mean maybe we can hope it’s not here to stay, or repeating, but clearly it’s real, and it’s crucial. it’s not just some abstract idea that frequents the academic and journalistic circuit like an overplayed song.

in my homelife i’m not great at cooking for myself, and i think my approach to climate change is similarly poor. but now when i see stuff about climate change i don’t feel like i’m seeing an overplayed song or an outdated fad, i feel like i still haven’t figured out what’s for dinner and i better get on that.