Boiling frog syndrome is often called a myth – but is it?

Check your subscription status, update your details and more. There is a popular metaphor that says frogs will boil to death if their environment warms so slowly they don’t notice. Scientifically, it is considered a myth, but columnist James Woodford finds evidence to the contrary in his own backyard Peron’s tree frogs in reporter James Woodford’s backyard pond, after having been rescued from his hot tub The boiling frog tale is too good an allegory for our modern times to ignore.

It goes like this: frogs will obliviously stay in water as it gradually warms until they eventually boil to death, blissfully unaware that their environment has become incrementally deadly. It is easy to see why this story gets wheeled out by climate change activists or democracy campaigners, along with the full spectrum of self-help peddlers who give advice on everything from bad relationships to poor diet to toxic workplaces. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox.

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