This summer, some moms woke their children early to play outside before the heat of the day made it unsafe. Yep, a changing climate is affecting our children’s ability to play outside.
There is a good chance younger children already have the word “climate” in their vocabulary and need reassurance they will be OK. The best way to reassure them is to talk about it: Humans have been on this Earth for 300,000 years but have only started polluting it for the last 60 years.
This pollution, called carbon, when put into our air stays in our atmosphere for thousands of years, putting a blanket of heat around our Earth. This heat causes our backyards to get hotter, causes more forest fires and floods, and causes the loss of some of our plants and animals. Let your children know that there is good news — we can stop polluting and preserve our Earth by taking action.
Talking about climate and deciding what your family can do to stop polluting helps our children feel safe and gives them hope. Science moms (sciencemoms.com/take-action) suggests actions you can take right now to preserve a healthy climate; as a family, write a letter to President Joe Biden asking his administration to stop carbon pollution.
A childhood lost is not acceptable!
Karen Jackson
Salt Lake City