I think you're making a pedantic mountain out of a molehill. For Mr. and Ms. Average Person, what do they gain in understanding by you saying "smothering" or "

I think you're making a pedantic mountain out of a molehill. For Mr. and Ms. Average Person, what do they gain in understanding by you saying "smothering" or "warming" over "heating"? Do you think that will lead to increased activism? More efficient activism? Or is it solely to satiate the scientists who already understand the difference of heating vs. warming? While I think precision in speech is a good thing, there is a point where it really just doesn't matter anymore - because the end result remains exactly as intended. When I'm explaining security concepts in a security awareness presentation, for example, I sometimes make a non-perfect analogy to get my point across. Anyone who understands why the analogy isn't perfect probably doesn't need the talk. Anyone who doesn't understand why the analogy isn't perfect probably doesn't care about the nuance. The average person doesn't care if it's a gigabit or a gigabyte of data stolen, they just care about the end result - data was stolen. The same applies here. I personally don't care whether the earth is technically "heating" or "warming" - I only care about the end result and what I can do to help.