Most recent 40 articles: Yale Climate Connections - Youth
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The event that helps this Indigenous Pacific Islander feel less alone - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Aug 7) |
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Aug 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Climate change is a hot topic on college campuses. But when Audrey-Rose Sevaaetasi started school in North Carolina, she felt like few students could relate to her perspective on the issue.
As an Indigenous Pacific Islander from American Samoa, where sea level rise and intensifying storms are an urgent concern, she struggled to find people who understood her experiences.
Sevaaetasi: “There is not a lot of Pacific Islanders present … or other Indigenous peoples … so it was very difficult to try to see eye-to-eye with a lot of people. … It’s kind ... Read more ...
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Action plan outlines ways to help protect children from climate hazards - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jun 27) |
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Jun 27 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Young children are especially vulnerable to the harmful impacts of climate change.
Many suffer from asthma that’s worsened by wildfire smoke and air pollution from coal, oil, or gas. Others face mental health challenges after experiencing a weather disaster.
So Claudia Benitez-Nelson, a climate scientist at the University of South Carolina, says it’s important to implement policies that help protect kids.
Benitez-Nelson: “We cannot abdicate our responsibilities to our children, to future generations.”
Benitez-Nelson is one of the ... Read more ...
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California students pressure state to divest teacher pension funds from fossil fuels - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jun 11) |
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Jun 11 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In California, young climate activists are demanding that their teachers’ pension funds end their investments in fossil fuels.
Ahsan: “This would move billions of dollars out of the fossil fuel industry.”
Zara Ahsan, a graduating senior at Skyline High School in Oakland, is an organizer with Youth Vs Apocalypse, a climate activist group.
The group is lobbying for state legislation that would ban the California State Teacher’s Retirement System - or CalSTRS - from new investments in the top 200 fossil fuel companies.
And it would ... Read more ...
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8-year-old spurs his dad to climate action - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (May 31) |
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May 31 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
One December about 20 years ago, Fred Carter’s 8-year-old son Akin was upset when there was no snow in Chicago on Christmas.
In trying to understand why, Akin began learning about climate change and how his parents’ generation had contributed to the problem.
Carter: “He came up to me and my wife … and he said, 'What are you going to do about it?’ … So we’ve been trying to fix it ever since.”
Back then, Carter worked as a supplier for General Motors. But he started learning about his industry’s climate impact and eventually left his ... Read more ...
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A gamer’s quest to prepare kids for climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Sep 11, 2023) |
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Sep 11, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Is it an oxymoron to tackle reality by imagining you’re on a quest in a made-up world, along with a cast of fantastical characters? To Lil Milagro Henriquez, the founder of a Northern California youth climate nonprofit, the two go hand in hand.
Growing up, Lil’s family didn’t discuss the hard realities of life. Her mother immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador before Lil was born, leaving behind relatives who lived through the Salvadoran civil war. Lil wonders if her single working mother felt a sense of powerlessness that kept her from broaching ... Read more ...
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Annual climate summit empowers New York students - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Mar 08, 2023) |
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Mar 08, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Each year, students from across central and northern New York gather for a climate summit at the Wild Center in the Adirondacks.
For two days, they attend workshops and keynote speeches, and they develop projects to implement when they get back home.
Jen Kretser is the Wild Center’s director of climate initiatives. She says projects range widely, “from carbon neutral proms to water bottle refilling stations to actually, you know, working with municipal leaders on developing climate action plans in their communities.”
She says the annual ... Read more ...
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Talking climate change … with the kids - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Nov 10, 2022) |
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Nov 10, 2022 · Yale Climate Connections
If adults find it difficult to talk with each other about climate change, as many of us clearly do, how much harder is it to have good conversations about it with children, especially young ones?
Here are some good resources to help parents recognize how the topic might be affecting their children, figure out how and when to have those talks, and help leave them feeling not afraid but empowered.
“Climate change is here. These 6 tips can help you talk to kids about it.” (Anya Kamenetz, NPR). This excellent article is straightforward, practical, and very helpful. (Also audio: 23 minutes).
“14 actually good books to teach kids about ... Read more ...
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New book helps parents have 'the climate talk’ with kids - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Oct 24, 2022) |
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Oct 24, 2022 · Join the Yale Center for Environmental Communication for a webinar on November 4, at 12 p.m. EDT. Panelists will discuss the health and community impacts of more frequent and large wildfires. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Kai Chen, Yale School of Public Health.
Yale Climate Connections
Lots of parents wonder how to have 'the talk’ with their kids.
Not that talk. The climate talk.
“We decided to put our heads together to try and think about what is the best way to tell young people about climate change,” says Jeremy Wortzel, a psychiatry resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
He and his wife, Lena Champlin – an environmental ... Read more ...
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Fresno youth train as community environmental advocates - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Oct 17, 2022) |
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Oct 17, 2022 · Join the Yale Center for Environmental Communication for a webinar on November 4, at 12 p.m. EDT. Panelists will discuss the health and community impacts of more frequent and large wildfires. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Kai Chen, Yale School of Public Health.
Yale Climate Connections
In southwest Fresno, California, many young people grow up breathing diesel fumes from trucks that drive through the neighborhood each day. They play near industrial facilities. And on hot days, they sweat on sidewalks with little shade.
So one organization is working to make sure young people are engaged in their community’s plans to address environmental ... Read more ...
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Teens help plant trees for new 'cool corridors’ in Phoenix - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Oct 06, 2022) |
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Oct 06, 2022 · Yale Climate Connections
When students at Cesar Chavez High School in Phoenix finish classes each day, many walk along a nearby road. Sophomore Jhoanna Echeverria says that during heat waves, the journey gets very uncomfortable.
“Like three minutes into walking, you’re already sweating,” she says.
Her classmate Rosa Ramirez agrees.
“During that time of day, it’s excruciating walking to the library, let’s say, or walking to the park,” she says.
But that’s changing. Echeverria and Ramirez recently volunteered – along with other students and residents – to help city workers plant more than 250 trees along the sidewalk. As the trees grow, they’ll provide ... Read more ...
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Scouts can now earn patches for learning about solar energy - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Oct 19, 2021) |
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Oct 19, 2021 · Yale Climate Connections
Many scouts enjoy toasting marshmallows over a campfire. But some have learned to make s’mores in a solar oven instead.
The activity is part of a solar energy education program. It was developed for Girl and Boy Scout troops by a national nonprofit called Solar United Neighbors, or SUN.
“They’re the future leaders of our world,” says Laura Tellez, the South Florida program coordinator for SUN. “So I think it’s really important that they know about the technologies, know about different options.”
She says the kids learn how solar energy works. They build a solar oven out of a pizza box, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. And they have a ... Read more ...
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'Where did the climate come from?’ and other kids’ questions about climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Mar 19, 2021) |
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Mar 19, 2021 · Yale Climate Connections
Dear readers,
As a child, I was a frequent visitor to the magnificent Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina, an 84-acre facility where I learned, among many other things, how to dissect owl pellets. So I was thrilled when the museum recently invited me to help answer questions about climate change posed by today’s generation of young learners. Participants in the museum’s online educational programs, whose ages typically range as old as 13, were invited to send questions. I’m replying to those questions in two parts, one published today and another still to come.
Dear Carlyle,
Our climate began forming at the same time ... Read more ...
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Summits target, and equip, youths to confront climate their way - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Mar 16, 2021) |
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Mar 16, 2021 · As a high school freshman in 2016, Andrew Fagerheim was so serious about climate action that he traveled from rural New York to Colorado to attend a prominent climate leadership conference. There, he learned about the science and about what adults were doing about it. But something was missing, or rather, a kind of someone.
“Out of 1,000 people, only about 20 were under the age of 18,” says Fagerheim. “It was interesting that there weren’t more young people there, because this is a problem that’s probably going to affect my generation more than others.”
He was not alone in thinking that youth should be more directly involved in climate ... Read more ...
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Sixteen-year-old First Nations advocate Autumn Peltier speaks up for clean water - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Dec 10, 2020) |
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Dec 10, 2020 · In 2003, Josephine Mandamin walked around Lake Superior carrying a pail of water. It was the first of many walks the Anishinaabe grandmother took to call for more action to protect clean water.
Autumn Peltier is Mandamin’s great niece and a member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation.
“When we’re born as Anishinaabe people, we’re automatically given that role to protect the water and the land,” she says.
Sixteen-year-old Peltier has followed in her aunt’s footsteps as a water protector and climate activist.
“My auntie Josephine is one of my biggest role models and mentors,” she says.
Like her aunt, Peltier ... Read more ...
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‘What can I do to help the climate?’ and other questions kids are asking about climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Aug 28, 2020) |
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Aug 28, 2020 · In this column, I’m answering more children’s questions about climate change. As in my previous column on the topic, these questions were posed by young participants in online educational programs at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina.
There’s a lot that you can do to help the climate. Kids all over the world are working together on the problem.
I suggest that you start by talking about climate change with a grown-up you trust, like a family member or a teacher. You can ask questions, share your feelings, and talk about ways that you might be able to help.
One of the most important things you can do is to learn more about ... Read more ...
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‘Where did the climate come from?’ and other kids’ questions about climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Aug 21, 2020) |
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Aug 21, 2020 · As a child, I was a frequent visitor to the magnificent Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina, an 84-acre facility where I learned, among many other things, how to dissect owl pellets. So I was thrilled when the museum recently invited me to help answer questions about climate change posed by today’s generation of young learners. Participants in the museum’s online educational programs, whose ages typically range as old as 13, were invited to send questions. I’m replying to those questions in two parts, one published today and another still to come.
Dear Carlyle,
Our climate began forming at the same time as our solar system. The solar ... Read more ...
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Social-media savvy youth climate movement isn’t stopping for COVID-19 - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jun 20, 2020) |
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Jun 20, 2020 · Two years ago, on a cold December day in New York City, then-13-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor skipped school – but not because she wanted to sleep in or binge-watch TV.
“I ended up going and sitting at this bench in front of the United Nations headquarters here,” she says.
Inspired by the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor went on strike from school to demand action on the climate crisis.
That first day, she was alone. But since then, the youth climate movement has grown, and she’s been organizing protests with other young leaders in New York City and around the world.
“I think that that’s one of the things ... Read more ...
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Social-media savvy youth climate movement isn’t stopping for COVID-19 - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jun 20, 2020) |
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Jun 20, 2020 · Two years ago, on a cold December day in New York City, then-13-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor skipped school – but not because she wanted to sleep in or binge-watch TV.
“I ended up going and sitting at this bench in front of the United Nations headquarters here,” she says.
Inspired by the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor went on strike from school to demand action on the climate crisis.
That first day, she was alone. But since then, the youth climate movement has grown, and she’s been organizing protests with other young leaders in New York City and around the world.
“I think that that’s one of the things ... Read more ...
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Colombian youth push their government to address deforestation - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 24, 2020) |
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Apr 24, 2020 · A group of Colombian children and young adults sued their country’s government for making climate change worse by failing to stop deforestation – and they won.
Camila Bustos is a student at Yale Law School and was one of the young plaintiffs in the 2018 case.
“Essentially we were arguing that deforestation in the Amazon is violating our constitutional right to a healthy environment,” she says, “which in turn threatens other rights such as the right to life, water, food and health.”
Colombia’s Supreme Court ruled in their favor. It ordered municipalities to update their land management plans and develop concrete strategies ... Read more ...
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Empowerment program helps teens heal after a weather disaster - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 04, 2020) |
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Apr 04, 2020 · Monroe, Louisiana, is far from the coast. But it’s no stranger to flooding. Three years ago, thousands of area homes flooded after heavy rain – displacing entire families.
The upheaval was distressing for many young people. And some even showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Walton: “And it was linked not with them going to war, but linked to the byproducts of climate change.”
Connie Walton of Grambling State University says many kids had to move to new school districts.
Walton: “… which created a whole set of problems. And there was really not an outlet for them to express their feelings.”
So to help, ... Read more ...
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Essay: A student deals with hope and fear over climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 04, 2020) |
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Apr 04, 2020 · Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C. – Growing up in the era of accelerating climate change means finding a balance between fear and hope. As a 21-year-old college student, I search for this balance through the people I spend time around and work with – including through Appalachian State University’s Climate Action Collaborative (ClimAct).
As part of the Global Climate Strike, ClimAct this past September 20 hosted a rally that drew several hundred people to march through our small town in the mountains of North Carolina. From kindergartners to retirees and every age in between, our community really showed up. We drew out animal life too – a few ... Read more ...
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High school seniors do research in Greenland - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 04, 2020) |
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Apr 04, 2020 · The ski-equipped Air National Guard LC-130 carried Alana Macken to Greenland nearly a year after the Northern California firestorm roared through her hometown of Santa Rosa in 2017, killing 22 people and destroying more than 5,000 structures. The fires deeply affected Macken.
“The fires absolutely devastated our town,” she says. “It feels hard to put into words. My grandmother, severely disabled, living in a unit behind our house, lost everything she had from her family that passed away. My friends lost pets, everything they owned, and loved ones. We were evacuated for three weeks, and the smoke was suffocating, literally. It was impossible to be outside for ... Read more ...
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Knox College students build rain gardens for their campus - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 04, 2020) |
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Apr 04, 2020 · Last spring, students at Knox College in Illinois traded their notebooks for shovels and planted a rain garden on campus. The garden is not just a bunch of pretty plants. It’s designed to reduce stress on the campus drainage system during heavy rain.
“The whole goal behind the rain gardens is … slow it, spread it, and sink it,” says associate professor William Hope. “And that is to take the movement of the water and slow it down such that it loses energy and rather spreads out and sinks into the earth.”
He says the project’s engineered so that rain comes from the roof of a nearby building, through downspouts, and into a bed of ... Read more ...
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Parents have a role to play in youth climate strikes, advocate says - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Apr 04, 2020) |
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Apr 04, 2020 · Last Friday, students went on strike again to demand climate action by world leaders.
Jill Kubit is co-lead of Our Kids’ Climate, a network of parents who advocate for climate action. She says as the youth movement grows, parents also have a role to play.
“A lot of the things that the young people are talking about in terms of protecting their dreams and their hopes for the future, parents are also responsible for that,” she says.
Kubit says that parents who are concerned about climate change can attend a strike or another event with their kids. She says an adult’s presence can help keep strikers safe, and it’s an act of ... Read more ...
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How a California mom is supporting the youth climate movement - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Feb 04, 2020) |
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Feb 04, 2020 · Eva Lea of Nevada City, California, has long been worried about global warming. When she became a mom, she felt even more troubled about the planet her sons would inherit.
"I'm extremely concerned about the future of my boys," she says.
So Lea is determined to speak out about the need for climate action and to empower her sons to do the same. She says she teaches them to speak up.
"If there's something you don't like with the government, if there is something that you don't like in your community, if there is something that you don't like in your school, you have the right to speak up," she says.
To elevate the voices of young people, Lea has helped support ... | By Daisy Simm Read more ...
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How a California mom is supporting the youth climate movement - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Feb 01, 2020) |
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Feb 01, 2020 · Eva Lea of Nevada City, California, has long been worried about global warming. When she became a mom, she felt even more troubled about the planet her sons would inherit.
“I’m extremely concerned about the future of my boys,” she says.
So Lea is determined to speak out about the need for climate action and to empower her sons to do the same. She says she teaches them to speak up.
“If there’s something you don’t like with the government, if there is something that you don’t like in your community, if there is something that you don’t like in your school, you have the right to speak up,” she says.
To ... Read more ...
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Knox College students build rain gardens for their campus - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jan 10, 2020) |
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Jan 10, 2020 · Last spring, students at Knox College in Illinois traded their notebooks for shovels and planted a rain garden on campus. The garden is not just a bunch of pretty plants. It's designed to reduce stress on the campus drainage system during heavy rain.
"The whole goal behind the rain gardens is … slow it, spread it, and sink it," says associate professor William Hope. "And that is to take the movement of the water and slow it down such that it loses energy and rather spreads out and sinks into the earth."
He says the project's engineered so that rain comes from the roof of a nearby building, through downspouts, and into a bed of gravel. Then it flows into the garden. The ... Read more ...
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Parents have a role to play in youth climate strikes, advocate says - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Dec 02, 2019) |
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Dec 02, 2019 · Last Friday, students went on strike again to demand climate action by world leaders.
Jill Kubit is co-lead of Our Kids' Climate, a network of parents who advocate for climate action. She says as the youth movement grows, parents also have a role to play.
"A lot of the things that the young people are talking about in terms of protecting their dreams and their hopes for the future, parents are also responsible for that," she says.
Kubit says that parents who are concerned about climate change can attend a strike or another event with their kids. She says an adult's presence can help keep strikers safe, and it's an act of solidarity.
She suggests bringing a ... Read more ...
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Support group helps young wildfire survivors heal - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (Jun 23, 2019) |
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Jun 23, 2019 · In October 2017, a deadly wildfire tore through Redwood Valley, California.
Smith: “The entire community was evacuated. A lot of them of lost homes. I mean, they got hit real hard – so there’s a whole lot of trauma there.”
Keenan Smith of the Mendocino County Youth Project runs a small support group for fifth grade boys who were displaced by the fire.
It provides a safe space for them to process their feelings and stories. Keenan says boys, in particular, sometimes need help opening up.
Smith: “There’s a huge stigma against males really sharing their feelings or being in touch with their emotions so I’m trying to ... Read more ...
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How climate change is shaking up plans for this year’s high school graduates - Yale Climate Connections - Youth (May 17, 2019) |
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May 17, 2019 · In the throes of final exams, graduation parties, and turning tassels, the high school class of 2019 is staring down a future full of climate challenges. The class, most born in 2001 and 2002, hasn’t experienced a year without record-breaking temperatures. According to NASA, 18 of the 19 hottest years on record have come since 2001.
“It’s just like a fact of our life, right, like social media,” said Claire Burnet, a senior from Asheville, North Carolina. “It’s not something that necessarily other generations have grown up around.”
Having grown up in a warming climate, these teens worry about what their futures will look like, and ... Read more ...
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