The thing about this day and age, is that it is generally different than it was yesterday.
The Extinction Rebellion protests have so far been some of the most successful in recent memory, they had politicians scrambling to be the first to declare a 'climate emergency'. Whether the talk converts to any action is another thing, but they have been very successful in raising the political visibility of the issue.
If I see a fire in the house I am in, it might be in the grate, or it might be on the sofa. If I declare some sort of 'fire emergency', it can help to point out to other humans which of the two situations I think I am encountering and how they might therefore choose to react.
I hope this helps.
For example, Trump declared immigration a national emergency in an attempt to use funds to build the wall that he would not have otherwise been able to do so. See the second paragraph of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Emergency_Concernin...