Actor and activist Rainn Wilson (“The Office“) has changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson, to protest climate change. He chose the new moniker via the Arctic Risk Name Generator which alters people’s names to reflect the risks of global climate chang. For example, if I become an “Arctic name changer” my new name would be Amy Loopy Jetstream Davis.
The name changer and Wilson are both in support of the organization Artic Basecamp. They “are a team of Arctic experts and scientists who, for the last five years, have brought the Arctic to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos,” their website explains. This team set up an Arctic science base camp with an expedition tent where they live and work in sub-zero conditions. All to bring the message of the risk of global climate to the world leaders at the WEF.
While Wilson admits it’s a “cheap” stunt, he also insists “This is not a joke.” The fact that he changed it during the United Nations climate change conference COP27 in Egypt backs that up. “I’m as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe,” he swears.
While it doesn’t seem like this will be a legal name change Wilson did say he would change his name on social media. As of the time of this writing, only Instagram reflects his new name. He claims that he cannot change his name on Twitter due to Elon Musk’s new regulations on the platform. While he did not explain why the change had not occurred on Facebook our guess would be a similar issue with their verification setting. Especially on an account like his with a large following.
“Go to ArcticRiskName.org and create a name that will bring attention to this problem,” Wilson pleads. “Then – and this is the important part – change your social media profile or display name to match your new ArcticRisk name. And if enough of us do this, then maybe COP27 will be where our world leaders sit up and notice Arctic risks and introduce a solution.”
It seems he is just as aware as anyone reading this that this is a “throwing spaghetti at the wall” solution to bring attention to a serious issue. But it certainly has plenty of news outlets and people talking. And is it really going to hurt anything for him to try?
Check out Wilson’s video explaining the name change and asking others to join him below:
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