“It’s not warming, it’s dying.” That’s the message from the man behind the “I ♥ NY” logo, Milton Glaser. The message comes with a logo and buttons that people can buy and wear. Glaser says that “global warming” is not good language. On that, he’s right, but reframing it as “global dying” is worse.
In an interview with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, Glaser said, “Global warming in its own way sounds sort of reassuring and comforting … that’s terrible. You begin by attacking the phrase itself — the word and what the word means — because the truth of the matter is that the earth is dying. And wouldn’t it be nice if today was the beginning of the most important date in human history which is the date we decided not to let the earth die?”
Arguing that the earth is dying is serious error and will probably do more harm than good. Two reasons why:
“Global dying” keeps the issue firmly in the abstract. The earth isn’t dying. People are.In the words of George Carlin, “The planet is fine, the people are fucked.” Or, if you prefer, Neil deGr... Read more
