Star of The Office, Rainn Wilson, has "changed" his name to “Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson” in a call for urgent action to fight climate change.
Timed to coincide with COP27, the United Nations Climate change conference happening in Egypt right now, the actor made the announcement via a Twitter video.
“I’m hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue,” he wrote. “We need world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action. The Arctic is melting at millions of liters per second, yet this problem can’t seem to make a name for itself, so it’s up to us to make a name for it.”
Join me @ @ArcticBasecamp in bringing attention to the melting issue. We need world leaders to take action at COP 27!
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) November 9, 2022
The Arctic is melting at Millions of Liters per second, yet this problem can’t seem to make a name for itself, so we’ll make a name for it.
Go to link in bio ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/TgEG84fOmQ
Wilson is urging Global Citizens everywhere to follow in his footsteps by going to ArcticRiskName.org and creating a name that will bring attention to rapid Arctic warming. Then — and this is the important part — change your social media profile or display name to match your new ArcticRisk name. “If enough of us do this,” he said, “then maybe COP27 will be where our world leaders sit up and notice Arctic risks and introduce a solution.”
The name changer generates a new name that incorporates an Arctic risk such as suspended shipping, blizzards, collapsing economies, droughts, sweltering summers, and more.
Wilson has also suggested alternate names for some other notable figures in the entertainment industry, including “Cardi The Arctic-B Melting," “Jack Black Carbon Is Killing Us,” “Amy Poehler Bears Are Endangered,” “Harrison Why Not Drive An Electric Ford,” “Samuel Earth Is Getting Hot as L. Jackson,” and “Leonardo Di-Polar Ice Caprio Are Melting.”
The group behind the name-changer is none other than Arctic Basecamp: the band of scientists who brought you an Arctic warning in the form of icebergs-in-a-bottle at Glastonbury, hauled an actual iceberg to COP26 last year, and are on a mission to tell the world that the changes happening right now in the Arctic and the Antarctic will determine the fate of humanity.
So what’s the Arctic prognosis? It’s not looking good — and it’s not just bad news for polar bears, but for all of us.
Over the last 50 years (the equivalent of a nanosecond in the grand scheme of the universe timeline), the Arctic has warmed four times more quickly than the planet as a whole. Widely considered by polar scientists as the Earth's refrigerator due to its role in regulating global temperatures, its own temperature has risen by 4.1 degrees Celsius, compared to 1 degree Celsius for the planet average, with each fraction of a degree having a devastating impact.
The risk multiplier effect of the Arctic means that climate change is already disrupting global weather patterns, leading to more frequent extreme weather events and unreliable water availability, which exacerbates water scarcity and food insecurity.
Rising sea levels will also force coastal communities inland, seasonal temperature differences will become more polarized, and extreme weather events will become more frequent, which will in turn lead to a refugee crisis, the likes of which we have not seen before.
Global Citizen is partnering with Arctic Basecamp to amplify the call for action to tackle the devastating impact that climate change is having on the Arctic, and on vulnerable and marginalized communities around the world. Head over to our Climate Action NOW hub and see how many actions you can take today to defend the planet. You can also download the Global Citizen app to take action.