“Bring on the global warming!” a friend exclaimed, slamming the door behind him and shedding a puffy coat and scarf. During winter chills, “global warming” can suddenly have an appealing ring. Treating it seriously almost demands that we call it “climate change” – though admittedly in mid-January in most parts of Canada even that doesn’t sound so bad.
Such lighthearted remarks about climate change may smack these days of Bad Taste, like joking at a funeral or being inanely cheerful in a war zone. Reading information and polemics on climate change can, indeed, make most of us feel downhearted and despairing as the time for action passes us by. Yet we might still relish, even if somewhat morbidly, some of the absurdity in public declaration.
