Global Boiling

“‘How fearsome must the headlines be about tomorrow before people change their ways today?’ Gibbs asked (Sept.24).

“Psychologically speaking, people need to worry more about the present to change. Our brains are hardwired to respond to imediate dangers, not ones that are years or decades away. And a term like global warming is too benign, especially for those like me who live in a cold climate and might welcome an increase of a few degrees. Perhaps we should use the term global boiling, like the proverbial experiment in which a frog stays in a gradually warming pot of water and eventually dies. Maybe we all need to visualize the destruction to make us feel a sense of immediate danger.”