In an effort to draw attention to climate change, actor Rainn Wilson of "The Office" has adopted the moniker Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson.
To coincide with the COP27 United Nations climate change summit taking place this week in Egypt, the actor made the news in a Twitter video on Wednesday.
Arctic Risk Name Generator, a website that encourages users to "become an Arctic name changer," helped Wilson, a board member of Arctic Basecamp, change his name.
Wilson stated that his name change was "not a joke," however it is unknown if the activist and actor intends to change his name legally on government records. His usernames on Twitter and Instagram are still @RainnWilson. Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson is his full name.
Wilson said in a statement, "With the help of my scientist pals at Arctic Basecamp, I've changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson. I'm as serious as the melting Arctic, which increases global hazards such as extreme weather occurrences everywhere, so this is not a joke.
"I'm hoping that this name change raises awareness of this expanding—er, melting—problem. At COP27, world leaders must pay attention and act. The Arctic is melting at a rate of millions of litres per second, but this issue doesn't seem to be able to establish itself, so it's up to us to do it.
Create a name that will draw attention to this issue at ArcticRiskName.org. Change your social media profile or display name to reflect your new ArcticRisk name after that. This is a crucial step. And if enough people take action, maybe at COP27 our world leaders will wake up, see the dangers posed by the Arctic, and provide a solution.
