How to Advocate for Climate Change. Empower yourself to help save the planet. Climate change is an issue that impacts everyone, especially children. The impacts can be seen first-hand, as the planet warms, and human fingerprints are all over the consequences: bigger, stronger hurricanes; deadly heat waves; more intense downpours; and devastating wildfires. (Family Features)
In fact, 60% of Americans are concerned about climate change, according to a survey by the Potential Energy Coalition. For many moms, having a child is what made them start to care about climate change in the first place. Eighty-three percent of moms are concerned about climate change and want to do something about it.
“It’s hard to study climate change and aspects of climate change and be a mother because the data’s very real to you,” said Dr. Emily Fischer, an atmospheric chemist and associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. “We need a massive shift in the way we produce energy within 10 years, the same time period I need to save and plan to send my daughter to college. We’re hoping moms will realize climate change impacts their children and that we have solutions, but we need to act relatively quickly.”
If you’re not sure where to begin, however, know that whether big or small, steps, such as these ideas from the climate scientists at Science Moms, can add up to create meaningful solutions.
Learn about climate change. Education is a powerful tool, so learning all you can about climate change is one of the best ways to get involved.
“Sorting through myriad information online can be daunting,” said Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, scientist and professor at Texas Tech University. “That’s why Science Moms was created. This nonpartisan group of leading climate scientists, who are also mothers, aims to break down climate change through simple, engaging content.”
Raise your voice. Leaders have the ability to truly take action on the scale needed to make lasting progress on this challenge, but they need to know that it’s a top priority of individuals. You can add your name to petitions and invite others to do the same, attend local meetings to voice your support for reducing carbon pollution and clean energy projects and meet with elected leaders to ensure they know you stand behind them. Of all the actions you can take, one of the most powerful is telling your representatives this is an issue you care about.
“By investing in a clean energy future and common-sense solutions that keep families and communities safe, government leaders have the ability to enact policies that escalate on a scale we could never achieve alone,” Hayhoe said. “They all need to know we stand behind their decisions to tackle this issue.”
Talk about it. In order to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change, fast action is needed. The more people who know the facts about this issue, the quicker an impact can be made. Share what you learn with your neighbors and other parents to help make everyone more aware of the issue. Also, remember that environmental concerns aren’t just for adults. Oftentimes, concern for the climate comes from children. Talking with your kids about the importance of good stewardship and empowering them to make a difference can affect how the next generation approaches concerns like climate change and pollution.
Make climate-conscious choices. There are nearly countless examples of smaller actions you can take to adapt to your own home and life. Options to consider include switching to electric cars, buying green electricity (now available in 24 states), putting solar panels on your roof, insulating your house, or adding more plant-based foods to your diet.
For more information and to get involved, visit sciencemoms.com.
Talking and Listening to Your Kids About Climate Change
Climate change can be a scary subject no matter how old your kids are, and there are some big concepts that are hard to understand. For others, they know that their future is at risk and are taking matters into their own hands by becoming activists on social media and marching in youth climate strikes.
Focus on developing a love for nature and the environment. Encourage your kids to spend time outdoors and plan activities for the family that celebrates nature, like camping and hiking. You can also introduce and inspire healthy curiosity by reading books about different aspects of the environment, like oceans, land formations, and the animals that inhabit different climates.
When talking with older kids, try to avoid scientific jargon and complicated explanations. Answer questions to the best of your ability and work together to find answers to the things you don’t know. Correct misinformation they may be hearing from others and be sure to include facts along with your own perspective as you discuss climate change.
It’s common for kids of all ages to be anxious about the impact of climate change. You can help channel that energy into productive action by getting involved in local organizations that are focused on improving the environment.
Climate Change Myths and Facts
There are many misconceptions about climate change. It’s a complex issue and a better understanding comes when you can sort the myths from the facts.
Myth: Climate change isn’t confirmed science.
Fact: More than 99% of climate scientists agree on the basic facts about climate change: it’s real, it’s human-caused, it’s harming people now and it’s solvable.
Myth: Climate change is a natural phenomenon.
Fact: The climate has changed naturally in the past, but right now, the world is warming up to 100 times faster than it has previously, according to research published in “Scientific American.” Billions of tons of burning coal, oil, and natural gas have released carbon pollution into the air that traps the sun’s heat, making the planet hotter while simultaneously melting ice and rising sea levels.
Myth: Climate change is in the distant future.
Fact: It’s happening right now. In the West, hot, dry conditions are fueling massive fires with smoke that blocks out the sun and pollutes the air. In the Southwest, historic droughts threaten the food supply. In the South, warmer oceans are fueling stronger, deadlier hurricanes.
Myth: It might get bad, but America can handle it.
Fact: If left unchecked, the heat trapped by the thickening pollution blanket directly threatens human health and may make virtually every natural disaster more deadly and destructive. These disasters are increasingly happening at the same time, destroying more homes and businesses, and there is only so much emergency relief available.
Myth: There is nothing we can do about it.
Fact: It’s not too late to prevent the worst-case scenarios. That requires reducing pollution and moving from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources, and relying on existing technology to build a clean economy. Governments across the world can work together to tackle climate change and invest in a safer future for children, but they need to know that this is a top priority for families.
For more information and to get involved, visit sciencemoms.com.
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Science Moms
STRANDED AT -30C IN CANADA
Share This Read Time:7 MinuteWatching a coral reef die as climate change devastates one of the most pristine tropical island areas on EarthSam Purkis, University of MiamiThe Chagos Archipelago is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an underwater mountain chain.It’s a paradise. At least it was before the heat wave.When I first explored the Chagos Archipelago 15 years ago, the underwater view was incredible. Schools of brilliantly colored fish in blues, yellows and oranges darted among the corals of a vast, healthy reef system. Sharks and other large predators swam overhead. Because the archipelago is so remote and sits in one of the largest marine protected areas on the planet, it has been sheltered from industrial fishing fleets and other activities that can harm the coastal environment.But it can’t be protected from climate change.A diver documents the coral reefs in the Chagos Archipelago.Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans FoundationIn 2015, a marine heat wave struck, harming coral reefs worldwide. I’m a marine biologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and I was with a team of researchers on a 10-year global expedition to map the world’s reefs, led by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, wrapping up our work in the Chagos Archipelago at the time. Our report on the state of the reefs there was just published in spring 2021.As the water temperature rose, the corals began to bleach. To the untrained eye, the scene would have looked fantastic. When the water heats up, corals become stressed and they expel the tiny algae called dinoflagellates that live in their tissue. Bleaching isn’t as simple as going from a living coral to a bleached white one, though. After they expel the algae, the corals turn fluorescent pinks and blues and yellows as they produce chemicals to protect themselves from the Sun’s harmful rays. The entire reef was turning psychedelic colors. Just before they turned white, the corals turned abnormally bright shades.Phil Renaud/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans FoundationThat explosion of color is rare, and it doesn’t last long. Over the following week, we watched the corals turn white and start to die. It wasn’t just small pieces of the reef that were bleaching – it was happening across hundreds of square miles.What most people think of as a coral is actually many tiny colonial polyps that build calcium carbonate skeletons. With their algae gone, the coral polyps could still feed by plucking morsels out of the water, but their metabolism slows without the algae, which provide more nutrients through photosynthesis. They were left desperately weakened and more vulnerable to diseases. We could see diseases taking hold, and that’s what finished them off.We were witnessing the death of a reef.Rising temperatures increase the heat wave riskThe devastation of the Chagos Reef wasn’t happening in isolation.Over the past century, sea surface temperatures have risen by an average of about 0.13 degrees Celsius (0.23 F) per decade as the oceans absorb the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, largely from the burning of fossil fuels. The temperature increase and changing ocean chemistry affects sea life of all kinds, from deteriorating the shells of oysters and tiny pteropods, an essential part of the food chain, to causing fish populations to migrate to cooler water.Corals can become stressed when temperatures around them rise just 1 C (1.8 F) above their tolerance level. With water temperature elevated from global warming, even a minor heat wave can become devastating.In 2015, the ocean heat from a strong El Niño event triggered the mass bleaching in the Chagos reefs and around the world. It was the third global bleaching on record, following events in 1998 and 2010.Bleaching doesn’t just affect the corals – entire reef systems and the fish that feed, spawn and live among the coral branches suffer. One study of reefs around Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific found that about 75% of the reef fish species declined after the 1998 bleaching, and many of those species declined by more than half.Research shows marine heat waves are now about 20 times more likely than they were just four decades ago, and they tend to be hotter and last longer. We’re at the point now that some places in the world are anticipating coral bleaching every couple of years.That increasing frequency of heat waves is a death knell for reefs. They don’t have time to recover before they get hit again.Where we saw signs of hopeDuring the Global Reef Expedition, we visited over 1,000 reefs around the world. Our mission was to conduct standardized surveys to assess the state of the reefs and map the reefs in detail so scientists could document and hopefully respond to changes in the future. With that knowledge, countries can plan more effectively to protect the reefs, important national resources, providing hundreds of billions of dollars a year in economic value while also protecting coastlines from waves and storms.We saw damage almost everywhere, from the Bahamas to the Great Barrier Reef.Some reefs are able to survive heat waves better than others. Cooler, stronger currents, and even storms and cloudier areas can help prevent heat building up. But the global trend is not promising. The world has already lost 30% to 50% of its reefs in the last 40 years, and scientists have warned that most of the remaining reefs could be gone within decades. The author, Sam Purkis, dives near a hawksbill turtle in the Chagos Archipelago.Derek Manzello/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans FoundationzzWhile we see some evidence that certain marine species are moving to cooler waters as the planet warms, a reef takes thousands of years to establish and grow, and it is limited by geography.In the areas where we saw glimmers of hope, it was mostly due to good management. When a region can control other harmful human factors – such as overfishing, extensive coastal development, pollution and runoff – the reefs are healthier and better able to handle the global pressures from climate change.Establishing large marine protected areas is one of the most effective ways I’ve seen to protect coral reefs because it limits those other harms.The Chagos marine protected area covers 640,000 square kilometers (250,000 square miles) with only one island currently inhabited – Diego Garcia, which houses a U.S. military base. The British government, which created the marine protected area in 2010, has been under pressure to turn over control of the region to the country of Mauritius, where former Chagos residents now live and which won a challenge over it in the International Court of Justice in 2020. Whatever happens with jurisdiction, the region would benefit from maintaining a high level of marine protection.A warning for other ecosystemsThe Chagos reefs could potentially recover – if they are spared from more heat waves. Even a 10% recovery would make the reefs stronger for when the next bleaching occurs. But recovery of a reef is measured in decades, not years.So far, research missions that have returned to the Chagos reefs have found only meager recovery, if any at all.We knew the reefs weren’t doing well under the insidious march of climate change in 2011, when the global reef expedition started. But it’s nothing like the intensity of worry we have now in 2021.Coral reefs are the canary in the coal mine. Humans have collapsed other ecosystems before through overfishing, overhunting and development, but this is the first unequivocally tied to climate change. It’s a harbinger of what can happen to other ecosystems as they reach their survival thresholds. This story is part of Oceans 21Our series on the global ocean opened with five in-depth profiles. Look for new articles on the state of our oceans in the lead-up to the U.N.‘s next climate conference, COP26. The series is brought to you by The Conversation’s international network.Sam Purkis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Sciences, University of MiamiThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.How to advocate for climate change
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