Americans Don't Take Climate Change Seriously. Might I Suggest One Simple Fix?

"For half a century, scientists have been warning about the risk of the planet warming by "2 degrees." It's a catchphrase that plagues the conversation about climate concerns, including at the United Nation's COP30 meeting in Belém, Brazil, this month. Take U.N. General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock's remarks to the press this week, in which she stated that member countries had previously committed to limiting global warming " well below two degrees." That's a huge mistake. Well, the math is right. But the wording, at least where Americans are concerned, is dead wrong."

""Two degrees" is a benchmark in Celsius. And the world's leader in per capita carbon emissions -a leading culprit of the greenhouse gas effect warming the planet-is the United States. Americans speak in Fahrenheit. Many folks are already loath to take action to combat climate change. Thanks to the rallying cry of "2 degrees," people in the U.S. are likely to mistake the dangerous warming of the planet as happening almost half as slowly."

"Among U.N. member states, the U.S. is an outlier in sticking with the Fahrenheit scale. A few other smaller nations such as the Cayman Islands and Liberia, use it, too. But almost every other country in the world uses the Celsius system. Normally, I wouldn't suggest kowtowing to the Americans and their strange instance on measuring things their own way. But if a bit of temperature translation will help light a fire, so to speak, in the perpetrators, it's worth it."

Scientists have warned for decades that a global temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius represents a significant climate risk. The 2-degree benchmark is expressed in Celsius while the United States primarily uses Fahrenheit, which can make the benchmark less intuitive for American audiences. That mismatch risks Americans perceiving the threat as smaller or slower, undermining urgency for mitigation. The United States leads in per capita carbon emissions, increasing the importance of clear domestic communication. Most countries use Celsius, and translating temperature benchmarks into Fahrenheit for U.S. audiences could strengthen public understanding and mobilize action.

Read at Slate Magazine