Watch Katy Perry pretend to be a meteorologist to fight global warming.
She's helping UNICEF stop global warming.
Katy Perry is a proud California girl. So when it comes to climate change, she gets it.
After all, she can see the effects of global warming in her own backyard. If you hadn't heard, climate change has made the drought in the Golden State much, much worse.
To highlight how important it is that we act now, Perry swapped her stage costumes for a pantsuit and got real about global warming.
She hasn't quit her day job, but Perry — a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2013 — did successfully pull off the role of "meteorologist" in a short video for the humanitarian group, seen below.
Her goal? To point out how climate change will affect families and children around the world.
Because, beyond California, increasingly warmer temperatures have wreaked havoc in poorer countries — areas that studies have shown will be hit hardest by a warming planet.
Areas like the Pacific Islands, where hurricanes have gotten worse.
And in South Asia where horrible floods have dispersed millions.
Not to mention hotter temperatures in East Africa mean increased risk of malaria (which kills 800 children every day).
And unfortunately, even if we act now, these places won't see relief overnight.
Our reliance on fossil fuels means, at least in the near future, the forecast looks bleak.
“It's always children who are first to suffer from [global warming's] impact," Perry warns in the video.
But ... why does climate change generally affect people in, say, the Philippines, more severely than in the U.S.?
Well, for one, underdeveloped regions happen to be in areas that are expected to see "stronger cyclones, warmer days and nights, more unpredictable rains, and larger and longer heatwaves," as The Guardian reported, citing a 2013 study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
But beyond simply getting hit hardest, poor countries also lack the infrastructure to successfully handle increasingly severe storms, disastrous floods, and rising sea levels.
They'll need to invest billions of dollars more to prepare for the worst of what climate change has in-store.
But here's the thing: We can avoid the worst of it. And there are plenty of reasons to believe we will.
World leaders are coming together to cut way back on carbon emissions, President Obama's administration is aiming to prioritize clean power over dirty energy, and organizations like UNICEF (with a little help from Ms. Perry) are helping those most impacted by a changing climate.
I'm very hopeful my grandkids will live in a green world, and you should be, too.
You can make sure your voice is heard by signing this petition to demand climate action at the Paris Climate Summit.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."