Climate campaigner wants Earth renamed

A climate change campaigner and author has claimed that the Earth should be renamed to highlight the potentially catastrophic changes being caused by mankind's industrial activity.

In his new book, entitled Eaarth, Bill McKibben argues that the addition of another 'A' to the planet's name reflects the subtle changes that have taken place in the past 50 years.

Commenting on the proposed new name, McKibben told the Guardian: 'There's a slightly science fiction look to it; that's appropriate in the sense it's a little like a science fiction story: we wake up one day and the planet we have been used to for 10,000 years has five per cent more moisture in the atmosphere, the sea is turning more acid.'

'The only trouble is it's not fiction,' he added.

McKibben was thrust into the spotlight in the late 80s when his climate change book The End of Nature was published.

Now, he claims that the dramatic social changes of the last century will be followed by violent physical changes this century.

Environmentalist George Monbiot recently claimed that a competition should be launched to rename the many endangered species living in the UK – which are going extinct at a rate of about two per year.