Opening eyes to the unequal burden of our changing climate.

Abstract

In 2019, I spent three weeks in Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. With over 25 million inhabitants, 74 percent live in extreme poverty. Only 13 percent have access to electricity. Madagascar is one of the African countries most severely affected by climate change. It now experiences an average of three cyclones per year (World Bank Group 2019). The locals told me about their fears regarding changing climate: extended drought in the south and west, increased cyclone activity in the north, and torrential downpours in the east. And then, of course, there’s sea level rise. Most do not own a car, and their houses are insubstantial protection against severe weather events and the encroaching ocean. This is typical for billions of people around the world who are in the same situation. How will they adapt as weather patterns shift and severe storms, drought, warming oceans, and sea level rise impact their lives? When they are forced to move to new areas to survive, how will they be treated by others when they encroach on their space? As an increasing number of educators teach climate change, whether or not their districts are using the Next Generation Science Standards, they have the opportunity to be a driving force to move society forward toward climate mitigation and adaptation, which are so desperately needed at this point in history. It makes sense to do so. The science showing causation between anthropogenically induced greenhouse gases and the rise in global temperatures is clear; as is the recognition that increased global warming is causing our climates to change and become less stable. If we teach climate change as merely an academic subject to be learned and assessed, without addressing its significance, it’s an opportunity lost. Focusing a few lessons on climate justice encourages students to think about how a scientific phenomenon has become a societal issue, making their academic studies all the more necessary and relevant to them, and perhaps even nudging them in the direction of becoming responsible global citizens