Week Fifteen: UNFCCC Post Six

It is a historic time. I feel incredibly proud and lucky to have been part of the delegation that went to Paris. While my presence there obviously had nothing to do with the negotiations, I like to think about someday being able to tell Norah about being part of the movement that finally decided we needed to do something about the changes that we caused ourselves. I like to think about being 72 years old in 2050 and her being 38 and us sitting down for a conversation about the week 35 years ago when I left her and Dada behind to be a part of something historic. To talk about the huge changes in our world that are part of her reality that were never part of mine. Her no carbon-emitting vehicle, her house that is powered entirely by renewable energy, her lack of options to purchase single use packaging, her recycling container that is larger than her garbage container and fills twice as fast, her awesome job in whatever field she has chosen that is making a positive difference in our world. I don’t spend much time thinking about her as an adult, wanting to enjoy each moment as they come, but her adult life and the life of any children she chooses to raise were on the forefront of my mind during this entire class and experience in Paris. This agreement is absolutely about the generations that are to come and while there is still a long way to go and lots of hard work to make the necessary changes, I am so pleased the world seems to be moving in the right direction.

Thanks so much, Jessy, for an amazing class and an amazing experience!   

Week Fifteen: UNFCCC Post Five

I came back from Paris with such hope and trust in our global community. The agreement that could come out of Paris will never be perfect, but it could be the important first steps in a global shift to a carbon free economy and more sustainable lives. Being out of the US and in a place where the questions aren’t ‘Is there climate change?’ but instead ‘What are we going to do about climate change?’ was a refreshing change. The Climate Generations area were full of people already making substantial efforts to both mitigate and adapt to the changes. There were still calls for more action and more justice, but overall I found the climate of the conference to be positive the week I experienced it.

And then I come back home and start to hear the same climate contrarianism that is a hallmark of our politics in the United States. Ted Cruz on an NPR interview stating that climate change isn’t a conspiracy but instead, ‘This is liberal politicians who want government power over the economy, the energy sector and every aspect of our lives.’ I just don’t understand why we even give a voice to those opinions that aren’t based on facts but cherry picked scientific findings that are later debunked. He tries to claim he is following the science by saying, ‘Well, I believe that public policy should follow the science and follow the data. I am the son of two mathematicians and computer programmers and scientists.’ As if scientific reasoning is passed down genetically.

Enough already. This is enough time and energy spent on Ted Cruz, but I just find it disheartening that we still allow that kind of rhetoric. Grrrrr.

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/09/459026242/scientific-evidence-doesn-t-support-global-warming-sen-ted-cruz-says

Week Fifteen: UNFCCC Post Four

I’ve really started to get into finding alternate media sources who are making the case for climate change action in creative ways. A few of my favorites:

Dear Future Generations: Sorry by Prince Ea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M

This video was shown during a presentation I went to by Scotland’s Youth 2050 Climate Group. They were an impressive group of 20-30 year olds trying to fill the void post college by organizing a volunteer group to work on the issue of Climate Change. I thought the video was an impressive visual and vocal perspective on what kind of future we are leaving to the next generations. The video was part of an ending speech by the vice-chair of the group, Elizabeth Dirth, who passionately followed up the video by saying she is no longer going to accept apologizes from world leaders, only actions.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Climate Change Debate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg

Sick of the climate change ‘debate’ being framed as a 1:1 issue, John Oliver staged another debate with 3 scientists arguing against and 97 scientists arguing for climate change. Brilliant.

‘Layers’ poem by spoken word artist Terisa Siagatonu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7glgz-mUwm0

I was lucky enough to see Terisa perform this live during the UNICEF Youth Ambassador’s presentation I went to. When you only have so many words in poetry, the ones you use must count and every word in this one counts! 

Week Fourteen: UNFCCC Post Three

I was fortunate to sit in on a session presented by UNICEF Youth Ambassadors from all over the world. These were young students who have taken direct action to educate themselves and their peers, families, and communities on the effects of climate change. They came to COP21 with their direct calls to actions for negotiators to both include youth in the decision-making process and to listen to their ideas. These youth are coming from places where the effects of climate change are more immediate and devastating than in most other parts of the world, such as the Philippines, where the speaker’s entire village was wiped out by a typhoon in 2014 and she wasn’t able to go to school for months. Another speaker from central Africa said he is having to spend most of his energy finding and bringing back water for his family instead of spending that energy on going to school. Yet despite these challenges, these students are committed to stopping and fighting the effects of our changing climate. They have more intimate knowledge of the effects of climate change than I or any of the students I teach ever will. But it is their drive to make positive change that I will bring back with me.

I look forward to spending the rest of my time finding more inspiration in the youth that are attending. I plan on bringing back their stories and passion for change to share with the students I teach. For, as one of the students said, “What concerns everyone must be solved by everyone.”

Week Fourteen: UNFCCC Post Two

My favorite places/times/things in Paris so far:

The markets: it makes me wish I got to stop by a market with fresh produce, meat, and cheese on the way home and get the ingredients for dinner. I also wish I spoke French so I could learn more about what is available.

The long meals: while I couldn’t do it for every meal, it is quite nice to sit and slowly enjoy a meal while enjoying the conversation and the people I am with. Maybe it is just because a dinner like that with an almost 4 year old is impossible but it is a great way to get to know people better while ending a long busy day.

The stateliness of the city: I’ve lived in a big cities before and while I am done with that phase in my life, I do wonder what it would be like to see a new cathedral or arch or otherwise large and beautiful building at every turn. From Notre Dame to Sacre Coeur, the grandness of these buildings is just amazing.

Everyday life: Seeing glimpses of people’s everyday life in a big city…from the line of school kids walking somewhere with their teacher and their backpacks to someone carrying a 5 foot Christmas tree while riding a bike, watching how people go about their everyday life in this big city has been enjoyable.

Time to myself: No matter where it is, time to yourself is precious when you are a mom. One of my favorite times was when I sat alone in the morning at a café having coffee and pastries and watching the world go by. While I miss home and my family, this opportunity to have an experience on my own has been refreshing.

Week Fourteen: UNFCCC Post One

There is so much to write about from my first few days in Paris…but I am going to focus on the irony present in so many moments so far. I think finding irony in moments helps me to shape my expectations and find the humor in serious situations. Here are my favorite ironic moments so far:

-At Sciences Po in the high tech and expensive Media Lab…our main speakers power point didn’t work and they couldn’t get it to project on the main screen. Their expertise and knowledge of their topics was amazing and I was so glad to hear the information. But not to have the media available in the Media Lab? Ironic.

-During Jon Church’s talk he discussed how it was George W Bush’s inaction and the US’ inability to ratify the Kyoto protocol that propelled a lot of Europe into action on climate change. I wonder if anyone if anyone has ever told W about those unintended consequences!!

-At the Climate Generation area, there were a number of people purchasing water in plastic bottles. How are we ever going to create real change if we can’t even convince the people at the conference that is a bad idea??

-Kari also brought up the major financial sponsors of the conference, including Air France, EDF, and BNP, all major polluters or power companies or financial institutions. I found more on the possibility of ‘greenwashing’ in this article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43986518-9426-11e5-b190-291e94b77c8f.html

Week Thirteen: Policy Briefing

It was quite remarkable to hear the breadth and depth of research that my classmates put into their white papers. I haven’t taken a cross discipline class like this in a long time and it is one of the things I have come to appreciate the most about the class. There were so many topics that I either would have never thought of investigating or, before this class, have any interest in pursuing. The military’s stance on climate change? For someone who usually ignores what the military is doing, I am now incredibly interested in how this issue will play out for them. Climate displaced people? Before this class, my uninformed assumption was that this type of climate change effect was still a ways off. I am really interested to see how my and my classmate’s topics play out in the next two weeks.

It is also hard to believe I am one day away from leaving for Paris! There are so many reasons why I am excited for this trip, both personal and professional. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the CSB/SJU delegation and am looking forward to our experiences! 

Week Twelve: Climate Policy and Politics

It was an interesting coincidence that the ‘Minnesota Prepares for Pars’ meeting organized by the Environmental Quality Board was held this week that we were investigating climate policy and politics. The meeting was filled with people from all different backgrounds and reasons for going to or being interested in the COP21 talks in Paris. Just at my table were 2 high school students from the School of Environmental Studies (who just the day before were told that their trip to Paris was canceled by the school district due to security concerns-they were so sad!), a councilwoman from the city of Minneapolis, the executive vice president of the BlueGreen Alliance, the MN Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Interagency Climate Adaptation Team Coordinator from the MN PCA. We each brought a different perspective and background into the discussion. The councilwoman from Minneapolis is wanting to see how other cities around the world deal with urban planning while using climate change as the framework. The BlueGreen Alliance is an organization that brings together the environmental movement with the labor movement in order to provide good jobs while caring for the environment. She had gone to a number of COPs before and is delivering position statements on behalf of her organization. The students had been studying and preparing for the meetings intensively for the past few months and still seemed a little shell shocked that they wouldn’t be going (although apparently some of the students and their parents are still going ‘on vacation’ in Paris during those two weeks…). The Commissioner and the MN PCA staff member were not going to Paris but seemed interested in why we were all traveling there and what part of our ‘Minnesota Climate Story’ we were bringing with us. All of us talking about why we were going and what we hoped to bring back was the best part of the morning – it was a great living and breathing example of how this issue of climate change reaches all parts of our lives. 

Week Eleven: Technological Solutions

It was great to have Troy back in class again. I really appreciate his background knowledge and how he can help add the science piece to the overall climate change picture. A few things struck me as we were having the discussion, especially towards the end of class. It was interesting to watch non-science major students (a broad generalization) work to understand the science he was explaining. From their comments and the somewhat exasperated look on their faces, it made me remember what I felt like when we have been exploring areas in class that I’m either not naturally drawn to or have any background knowledge in (such as economic policy or theology). Everyone in class seemed willing and open to try and understand what he was saying, but I think it was a great example of what can happen in climate change negotiations if we try to smother policy and economic leaders with the science of climate. It would be very easy for someone to say ‘I don’t understand’ and turn away from the discussions. That is why it is important to have scientists with the gift of clear communication (like Troy) to be the ones to try and communicate the scientific message. And have them all in the same room at the same time!

After reading the article and hearing the discussion, I really wonder what would happen if we took all the time, energy, talent, and money spent on geoengineering solutions and put them towards mitigation efforts instead. Perhaps we wouldn’t ever get to the point where we would need these last ditch solutions if we actually focused on the problem and a cure instead of just the symptoms. 

Resource Guide: Climate Change Education

Common misconceptions about climate change in young students and suggestions for best practices in climate change education.

Journal Articles

Faria, Felipe, Kelly Klima, I. Daniel Posen, and Ines M.L. Azevedo. “A New Approach of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Outreach in Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Decision Making,” Sustainability 8 (2015): 261-271.

This journal article argues that effective programs that teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) well will increase the general public’s knowledge of issues such as climate change, increase the number of people interested in STEM careers, and help to prepare teachers to teach issues surrounding STEM and climate change. They site a number of different research studies that show a gap in knowledge in major energy issues in both K-12 and general public and they connect this to a lack of understanding about climate change. They first describe a number of different types of STEM programs across the country, both for teachers and students separately. The authors then describe a new program at Carnegie Mellon University that combines a STEM program for students and teachers at the same time. They feel that model is successful because of the engagement between the two audiences, the location on a university campus, and the no cost to students and the stipends to teachers. This article may be useful for people who are looking for best practices in starting a STEM informal program at a University.

Ozdem, Yasemin, Burckin Dal, Nilay Ozturk, Duygu Sonmez, and Umut Alper. “What is that thing called climate change? An investigation into the understanding of climate change by seventh-grade students,” International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 23 (2014): 294-313.

This study looks at 7^th grade Turkish students and their perceptions and understanding of climate change. It is the start of a larger project funded by the government in Turkey called ‘The Impacts of Climate Change and Raising Awareness about Adapting the Climate Change’ and the results will be used to shape climate change curriculum and develop summer climate change science camps. The authors administered a 21 question survey of both qualitative and quantitative questions to 646 7^th graders in a variety of regions in Turkey. The survey questions were grouped into four main areas: general environmental concerns and experiences; awareness, knowledge, attitudes and behavior as related to climate change; environmental values and actions; and demographic measures. Students ranked climate change 8^th in terms of their primary environmental concern, behind things such as littering and air pollution. Most students strongly agreed that climate change was a consequence of modern life and the United States, but that they could not do anything about it. The study also found their understanding of climate change was at a more global, rather than local, level. The students also reported that their major sources of climate change information include television, internet, newspapers, and school. The curricular recommendations from this study include developing the understanding of climate change on a more personal and community-wide level and recognizing and using the media’s influence on student perception. This article would be useful for middle school teachers and curriculum developers, especially in the Turkish region.

Bofferding, Laura and Matthew Kloser. “Middle and high school students’ conceptions of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies,” Environmental Education Research 21 (2015): 275-294.

This study looks how two types of knowledge (system knowledge-understanding how something actually works and action knowledge-knowing what behaviors and actions can influence a situation) can affect middle and high school students’ comprehension of mitigation versus adaption strategies to climate change. The researchers specifically studied students’ ideas and reasons for community-wide climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, how their understanding is affected by being taught about climate change, and how do middle and high school students compare in their understandings. 387 middle and high school students from the California Bay Area were surveyed before and after a unit on climate change and answers from two specific open-ended questions were focused on in this study. The first asked for one specific action that could reduce the student’s carbon dioxide emissions and to explain how it would reduce emissions (mitigation strategy). The second question asked for one specific thing the student or their community could do to prepare for or adapt to climate changes and to explain why or how it would work (adaptation strategy). They found that the majority of students still confuse mitigation actions with adaptation actions, even after being taught the climate change unit. The recommendation from this study is to increase the explicit instructions and activities about both what adaptation and mitigation strategies are and how exactly those strategies work. They also call for region-specific curriculum about climate change to make these strategies more relevant to the students’ lives, as they saw a majority of these students mention dealing with sea level rising as an adaptation strategy, even when other studies find sea-level rise ranking towards to bottom of climate change concerns. This article would be useful for educators creating climate change curriculum focusing on mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Shepardson, Daniel P., Dev Niyogib, Soyoung Choia and Umarporn

Charusombatb, “Seventh grade students’ conceptions of global warming and climate change,” Environmental Education Research 15 (2009): 549-570.

This study looked at seventh graders from the Midwest US and their conceptions of climate change, before they received any explicit climate change instruction. 91 students from 3 different schools were given a 5 item assessment that included 4 open response questions and 1 draw and explain question. This study showed that these students had a narrow and simplistic understanding of climate change but lacked much depth about the issue. They identified that climate change would only affect more local things like precipitation and weather events but lacked understanding of the global consequences of climate change. The students also identified problems for wild plants and animals with climate change, but did not identify issues with domestic animals or agriculture. The study’s authors identified a list of topics to be covered sequentially in a curriculum to help deepen students’ understanding of this complex issue, such as carbon cycling, greenhouse effect and gases, Earth’s tilt and orbit, and climate change impacts. They also call for teaching about climate change in a more holistic manner, by incorporating economic, political, and technical aspects to instruction to deepen understanding. This article would be useful for those creating an introductory and basic curriculum on climate change for middle school students.

Parker, Joyce M., Elizabeth X. de Los Santos, and Charles W. Anderson, “Learning Progressions and Climate Change,” The American Biology Teacher 77 (2015): 232-238.

This article examines the ways students understand a broad set of ideas such as climate change (learning-progression research) instead their understanding of one specific concept (misconceptions research). Learning progressions are ‘descriptions of the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a topic that can follow one another as children learn about and investigate a topic over a broad span of time’ (223). These researchers focused on understanding of the crosscutting concept Tracing Matter and Energy as described in the Next Generation Science Standards. They interviewed and analyzed written responses from elementary, middle, and high school students from a variety of settings and states. The findings are described in four levels of achievement from typical upper elementary students (Level 1) to an integrated understanding of the topic (Level 4). They determine that very few upper high school students achieve Level 4 understanding and are able to consistently trace matter and energy, which is necessary to really understand climate change and make informed and responsible decisions. To improve understanding in the classroom, they call for more explicit instruction regarding tracing matter and energy and precise language when instructing on this topic. This article would be useful for teaching starting to implement the Next Generation Science Standards and the cross cutting concepts along with a climate change curriculum.

  

Opinion Articles

Shaw, Sophia. “It’s Time to Teach About Climate Change. Here’s How.” The Guardian, September 19, 2014.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/19/its-time-to-teach-climate-change-in-school-heres-how

The author of this opinion article is calling for a massive effort to bring more climate change curriculum into the classroom. Relying on past efforts to teach climate change through tragic weather events such as floods or superstorms only creates fear and drives kids away from the topic, she states. Instead, education should allow students to ask their own questions and empower them to find the answers with the necessary tools. She describes a new curriculum developed by NASA and the Chicago Botanical Gardens that intends to give students real world experiences about climate change and the tools to investigate them. This resource would be useful for teachers looking for reasons to support starting a climate change curriculum in their classroom and a possible new curriculum to use.

Cherry, Lynne and Doug Grandt. “On the Allure of Ostriches and New Paths in Climate Change Communication.” The New York Times, May 24, 2012.

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/on-the-allure-of-ostriches-and-new-paths-in-climate-communication/?_r=0

This opinion article focuses on a more positive way to approach climate change education. They site research that explains psychologically why explaining the scientific reasons behind something like climate change with a gloom and doom message tends to cause people to run the other way and stick their heads in the sand. ‘Motivated avoidance’ is what people will do when faced with a large and complex problem. The authors feel the way to combat that especially with youth is to increase their self-efficacy or their belief they can make changes in their own life and in the world. Citing a book on the topic, there are a number of ways to developing this in young people, such as building mastery through successful projects, social modeling and communication with their peers, and social persuasion. This resource would be helpful for educators looking for new and innovative ways for motivating students to take action on climate change issues.

Liverman, Diana. “How To Teach About Climate Without Making Your Students Feel Hopeless.” The Washington Post, August 20. 2014

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/20/how-to-teach-about-climate-without-making-your-students-feel-hopeless/

This author describes an Introduction to Environmental Studies class she teaches and how she has changed her way she approaches environmental issues such as climate change. When she taught the class by focusing on the harm and damage humans are doing to the Earth and its resources, she found students left the class feeling hopeless and sad and started referring to the class as ‘Environmental Depression’ instead. In order to make a change in her students’ outlook and inspire them to take action, she followed suggestions from climate change research and the notion that fear only motivates people to do less. Instead, she structured her class around the positive and hopeful things humans have contributed, such as clean air and water legislation, the international treaty about the ozone layer, and low carbon public transport. She now finds her students leave her class inspired to be a part of positive change. This resource would be useful for any educator looking for a more positive way to teach about serious environmental issues.

Dawson, Vaille and Katherine Carson. “What Do Young People Really Know About Climate Change.” The Conversation, November 3, 2013.

http://theconversation.com/what-do-young-people-really-know-about-climate-change-19754

This article describes research done on grade 10 students in Australia regarding their basic understanding of climate change and global warming. They surveyed 438 students in Western Australia and when asked for responses to questions asking what is climate change and global warning, only 1/2 and 1/3 of the answers showed a basic understanding of the science behind those issues, respectively. Confusing the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect was the most common misconception within the written answers and most student also weren’t aware of other greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide. The authors’ recommendations for improving Australian students’ grasp of climate change included introducing the topic earlier in the science curriculum, allowing for interdisciplinary teaching of science topics when teaching climate change, and for teachers to understand the alternate views students may have and ways to approach those students. This resource would be helpful especially for Australian teachers and those involved in revising science curriculum.

Websites

“The Essential Principles of Climate Science,” NOAA, last modified April, 2015,

https://www.climate.gov/teaching/teaching-climate-literacy-and-energy-awareness

This is a comprehensive guide for educators who aim to teach about climate change in their classrooms with the goals to both meet academic standards and create students who are climate literate. It starts with a guiding principle (humans can take actions to reduce climate change and its impacts) and seven essential principles necessary for understanding this complex topic. A number of large agencies worked together to develop this guide and invited comments and feedback from an even larger group of organizations and individuals. Each principle includes why the topic is important, what makes it hard to teach the topic, and grade specific teaching techniques, strategies and resources to use while teaching the topics. The website is incredibly easy to navigate and would be very useful for both veteran and novice teachers teaching climate change in their classroom.

“Young Voices for the Planet,” Young Voices on Climate Change, accessed November 7, 2015, http://www.youngvoicesonclimatechange.com/

This website features films of young people taking action and making a positive different on the Earth. The films include features on girl scouts who distribute CFL light bulbs, a 9 year old boy from Germany who has helped to plant million of trees, students in Massachusetts who are reducing their school’s carbon footprint by sourcing local foods for their cafeteria. The website also has suggestions for students on how to reduce their carbon footprint and curriculum for teachers to incorporate climate change into their classroom. This website will be incredibly motiving for young students to start making their own positive change after watching what their peers are capable of.  

Video

“The Kiribati Project: What Kids Know about Climate Change,” CLRI NSW Social Justice, last modified May 18, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcKRYN9vloc

This video interviewed kids age 4-17 from both Kiribati and Australia. Kiribati was predicted to be the first island nation completely consumed by rising sea levels and is less than 5000 km from Australia. The kids were asked questions about their homes and what they know about climate change. The difference in their answers was striking - climate change is a present and daily challenge for the kids in Kiribati, even for the youngest ones interviewed. For the kids in Australia, climate change is a much more remote and far off problem, if they knew anything at all. This resource would be a great video for other kids to watch to help them understand why for some people, climate change is a much more immediate problem.

Week Nine: Sustainability at CSB/SJU

The differences in the sustainability offices at CSB and SJU has always made me shake my head in wonder. I understand that technically we are two institutions that have some joint and some separate departments. But the disparities between the two when it comes to sustainability don’t make any sense to me. If there is any area where we can accomplish more by pooling our efforts, it is sustainability!! And my feelings about this are not a reflection upon the people who hold the positions, but the way the two institutions have structured the offices. By not having a director to report to, help with institutional memory, or offer a long term vision for the program, SJU severely limits what their fellow can accomplish. By committing to hiring a director of sustainability, SJU could make great strides towards their carbon neutral pledge and increase the interest and action in sustainability from SJU students. While the fellows have accomplished great things, they are limited in their scope and influence on campus. The sustainability efforts at SJU deserve a full time staff member.

Week Seven: Inequality and Development

In our discussions about the Jessica Barnes chapter about water issues in Egypt, the ideas of scales and agency really made sense. The farmer who doesn’t have enough water to grow his crops today or next year may be less worried about climate change because it doesn’t seem to be effecting his day to day existence (even if in some way it is). He is more worried about just plain survival rather than the longer term health of our planet. It made me think about Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs – basically that humans are motivated to achieve certain needs and that lower level basic needs, such as biological and physiological needs like air, sleep, food, and safety needs, need to be fulfilled before one is able to move on to higher level growth needs, such as love, esteem, and self-actualization. We often talk about this in educating young people – if they are coming to school hungry or not knowing where they will sleep that night, it is difficult for us to ask them to learn things like math or science. The idea of thinking about climate change along different scales and then the resulting agency or ability to act upon issues, is a very similar scenario. It is perhaps unfair of us to ask those who are living a day to day existence to step back and think about how their actions are contributing to climate change. 

Week Five: Climate Skeptics

I’ve spent part of this week just not understanding why we even have to waste time and energy trying to convince those who are climate change skeptics or contrarians what is happening is real. I feel like spending time strategizing how to convince them somehow validates their opinions. But then I hear a story on NPR that partially gives me hope, about a republican businessman who is putting a lot of money behind lobbying the Republican party to change their view on climate change. A poll done by his organization ClearPath found that 56% of Republicans believe in climate change and that humans play a role in it. But then as the story reports, while most of the Republican candidates for president agree that climate change is happening, few have explicitly said they will combat it if elected and a few still deny it is happening. I just don’t understand why people will take a position on something simply because of their political affiliation and not on its own merits.

But seeing in the same story that almost 75% of young Republicans feel the government should limit greenhouse gases makes me feel like the message is getting out to those need it most. I also was a firsthand witness to the power of educating youth about climate change this week, as I helped to organize the Youth Energy Summit (YES!) Fall Summit this week at SJU. Our theme was ‘Say YES to youth-led solutions to climate change’ and Climate Generation gave a wonderful keynote about climate change. One of the coaches who brought a group of high school students sent us this quote from one of the students who attended, "My view was drastically changed from the beginning to the end of this presentation.  My parents have always said this is a hoax.  This is really important!" That is our audience we need to focus on!!

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/09/30/444457034/the-republican-businessman-who-wants-the-gop-to-address-climate-change

Week Four: Climate Theologies

With Pope Francis’ visit to the United States this week and his message of care for all people, I have been thinking a lot about why climate change is affecting the world’s poorest people first. I have read and heard a lot about how it is affecting them but I have been able to really grasp the why. Why is it that those with the least amount of resources will face the realities of climate change first?

I found some answers after reading Derek Larson’s article ‘Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home’ in the most recent issue of the Abbey Banner magazine (link below) and after an early morning conversation with him. In his article he talks about the ‘disproportionate consumption of resources’ and the ‘tremendous gap between the world’s rich and poor countries’ which results in human suffering but that ‘most of us remain blissfully unaware of the short-term impacts’ of our habits. He goes on to say ‘those who suffer the first and most from climate change are the least equipped to deal with the challenges on their own.’ But he never really got into the why. So one morning when we were both in our offices earlier than we should have been, I asked him why that is the case.

His take on it is that those with more resources are better able to ‘insulate’ themselves from changes in climate, mostly due to technology and wealth. We have the means to turn on the air conditioning, turn up the heater, buy our food in grocery stores, buy bottled water, and even have the means to move if necessary. Please with few resources are less insulated from the climate and their livelihood depends on things like the predictability of monsoon rains, the availability of potable water or the current sea level. When those things change, they have fewer resources to begin with to adjust to those changes.

If that is the case, I think that those with the means to live comfortably despite of the changing climate need to be more connected to the natural world. If we are more connected, we are then more able to feel the effects of a changing climate and it would motivate us to change our behaviors more, even if we are able to insulate ourselves. As Derek says ‘we must educate those with access to greater resources on their responsibility to care for their fellows as they steward creation.’ For it is our actions that have the greatest impact on the planet in the first place and we must stop insulating ourselves from the effects.

http://issuu.com/sjabbey/docs/ab_fall_2015_7136c86cd1b5fc/1

Week Three: Past and Present Climate

It was great to have Troy as a guest lecturer in class this week to help explain the science of climate change. His energetic style and passion for the topic comes through in his lecture/discussion style and I really appreciated his approach of 'crossing things off the list' when it comes to other potential reasons the globe is warming (the sun, Earth's orbit, volcanoes, etc...). 

But I thought the most interesting part of the discussion was when we talked about using individual weather events that negatively effect people to prove or disprove climate change. I can absolutely see his point about not using something like Hurricane Katrina to show how the climate is changing. Dramatic and drastic events like that are easy to point to, but when they don't happen again or with what we humans deem some regularity, it does provide deniers to make the claim, 'Where is your global warming now?' However I also feel like if we don't make the connection between human life and climate change, it will be easier for people to sit back and not make any of the changes that are necessary to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate.

My feelings on this come mostly from watching ‘Sun Come Up’ and the profound impact that film had on me. I know about climate change, I try to change my habits to help contribute less to climate change, but it was that film that first really showed me this is an issue now. People are already having to adapt in dramatic ways and if we don’t do a better job of changing our lifestyle, more and more people will be facing the hard decisions the Carteret people have already made.

Week Two: Climate Culture

The movie Sun Come Up evoked an incredible emotional response from me, as it put a 'face' on the affects of climate change. Living in a land-locked state with no current plans to move away, I don't ever see myself in the position the Carteret people are in, having to find a new home because of the rising sea level. While Minnesota isn't immune to climate change and are already feeling some effects, such as a recent shift to a warmer plant hardiness zones, I don't anticipate having to leave this place in search of new land to raise my family. The pain and difficulty of their impending move was incredibly apparent during the film and made me consider what choices my daughter may have to face in her lifetime.

I was inspired by Basil, the former fighter in the previous civil war in Bougainville. He talked about fighting in a war and doing horrible things for reasons he didn't know. He was incredible reflective and said that he was helping the Carteret group search for land as a way to give back and make up for the things he did during the war. His actions gave me hope that our world can come together as a global community and help those who will suffer first and the worst from our changing climate.

Week One: Why Climate Matters

I never thought of myself as a climate denier until I read Naomi Klein’s article ‘Don’t look away now: the climate crisis needs you’ in The Guardian. I read about climate change just enough to know it was happening and that humans were to blame. I recycle, grow my own food, try to be aware of the consumer choices I am making, etc… I roll my eyes when people come out on the coldest day of the winter and say ‘Where’s the climate change now?’ But when I read Klein’s description of how she first thought about climate change, I identified with the ways we look away more than I wanted to. Especially when she described it as ‘at first it may appear as if we are looking, because many of these lifestyle changes are indeed part of the solution, but we still have one eye tightly shut.’ When I looked in the mirror after reading her article, I saw one of my eyes was shut.

But I also thought it was refreshing to read how Klein was encouraging us to use this situation as an opportunity for ‘a catalyzing force for positive change.’ With so many inequalities in the world and a hopeless feeling when one tries to think about how to change it all, why not combine the changes we need to make to mitigate climate change with the changes we need to make the world a more equitable place. It seems like an easy way to tackle a big problem.

So just like I tell my three year old daughter when she makes a bad choice, we just have to do better next time. So this is my next time. I plan on using this class to gather all the information on why we should care about this topic, and more importantly, learn what really will make a different in our world. If not for me, for my daughter so she can grow up with both eyes open.