The Turnstone: talking about climate change #7

What do we say to the children? (3 minute read)

Jul 24, 2022

The earth she is crying, she is warming and distressed
We need to act together now, not wait until we’re pressed

Finn Mulvogue (11)

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, when nuclear war was the main existential threat on our minds. But children and young people today are facing a much more pervasive and present threat. Nuclear war was something that might happen, but climate change is happening now.

With this in mind, this month I have put together resources to help those who are speaking with children and young people about climate change. Most of the resources present information about climate change in a way that is easily understandable for children and young people. At the end, I’ve included some information aimed at helping children and young people to cope emotionally with a crisis which will affect them more than it affects us. Next month, I will focus more on resources about climate anxiety and how to cope with the well-justified fear of climate change.

Penguin teenagers: image credit Melanie Newfield

Climate change resources aimed at older children

National Geographic (5 minute read)

This article from National Geographic is aimed at children and gives a good overview. According to an online tool for estimating reading age, it should be easy to understand for children aged 11-12.

What is climate change: facts for kids | National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)

NASA Climate Kids

NASA’s guide to climate change aimed at children is an excellent site – great for adults as well as children. The text should be easily understandable by 12-13 year olds, which is pretty good for something explaining climate science.

A Guide to Climate Change for Kids | NASA Climate Kids

Example from NASA Climate Kids – the ocean (7 minute read and 4 minute video)

I’ve linked to this page as an example because I’ve been looking at the ocean lately, and because the video on this page gives an amazing explanation of the heat capacity of water.

How Does Climate Change Affect the Ocean? | NASA Climate Kids

Frontiers

This series of articles from the “Frontiers” scientific journals is another great resource. The online tool suggests that the articles in this series should also be easily understood by 12-13 year olds, although they are slightly harder to read than the NASA articles and may be appreciated by an older age group.

Climate Change · Frontiers for Young Minds (frontiersin.org)

Example from Frontiers - Antarctica (10 minute read)

There’s a lot of detail in this article, but it’s well-illustrated and clearly explained.

The Antarctic Ice Sheet–A Sleeping Giant? · Frontiers for Young Minds (frontiersin.org)

Information for younger children

This excellent video from TedEd looks at climate history over the last million years to put human-caused climate change into context. It doesn’t refer to an age range but I think it’s suitable for primary-aged children. (5 minute video)

When will the next ice age happen? - Lorraine Lisiecki - YouTube (5 minute video)

This is a good, clear video which covers the basics and is one of the simplest that I’ve found. (2 minute video)

Climate change (according to a kid) - YouTube (2 minute video)

Talking with children and young people about climate change

There are a lot of resources out there about conversations dealing with climate anxiety and I will focus more on this issue next month. However these two articles are a good start. The first is focused on talking about climate change with children of different ages. The second is focused on how to talk with children and young people about their fears over climate change, and how to recognise when that fear could be getting out of control.

How to Talk With Children About Climate Change - HealthyChildren.org (5 minute read)

Kids and Climate Anxiety - Child Mind Institute (10 minute read)