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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Miki Mori, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Université de Mayotte

Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein’s theory of time have to do with misunderstandings about climate change

Fishermen on Mayotte, where the local Maore language has no words to easily translate 'climate change.' Mwanasimba via Wikimedia, CC BY

As a child growing up in the early 1990s, I remember learning in school about the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat near the Earth’s surface, like the glass of a greenhouse. I imagined myself on the playground, roasting inside a humid hothouse.

Fast forward 30 years, and the terms have changed.

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