“The science is clear. The world is in a state of climate emergency, and we need to shift into emergency gear.” This is the opening sentence on the UN’s Environment Program (UNEP) page on climate emergency.
The first part of the sentence is indisputable. Not only is the science clear, but scientists are also increasingly vocal, using the term ‘climate emergency’ more frequently in their publications. A recent Washington Post article revealed a significant rise in papers mentioning “climate emergency” in the Web of Science research database, from 32 in 2015 to 862 in 2022.