Teaching Youth about the Impact of Climate Change

Climate change is a relatively slow phenomenon that may not impact a youth's day-to-day activity and yet long term can have a profound impact on the planet. When daily, monthly, and annual temperatures can fluctuate by 10°F to 50°F how do we get young people to understand and accept that a few degrees change in temperature of the earth can have catastrophic consequences?

Global temperature rose about 2°F from 1901 to 2020, but climate change refers to more than an increase in temperature.

According to data published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), climate change is more than the rise in the planet's temperature. As per NOAA website, other impacts of climate change include:

• Sea level rise has accelerated from 1.7 mm/year throughout most of the twentieth century to 3.2 mm/year since 1993.

• Glaciers are shrinking: average thickness of 30 well-studied glaciers has decreased more than 60 feet since 1980.

• The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 25% since 1958, and by about 40% since the Industrial Revolution.

• Snow is melting earlier compared to long-term averages.

The above changes can cause drought and flooding impacting society.

Teaching about climate change can be sometimes difficult. The Toolbox for Teaching Climate & Energy website is an excellent resource to help educate our youth about climate change.