You may be hearing phrases like “climate crisis,” “climate emergency” and “climate justice” a lot as the 2026 United Nations climate summit is underway. Political leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, are using them to try to get across the urgent risks and consequences of climate change. The danger is real, but is using this language actually persuasive?
It turns out that Americans are more familiar with – and more concerned about – climate change and global warming than they are about climate crisis, climate emergency or climate justice, according to a survey we conducted with a nationally representative sample of 5,137 Americans.
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