ICYMI: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body convened by the United Nations (UN), released its report last week that confirms what we already know: We, humans are the cause of climate change and we can also do something about it. If we act now.
The report based on 14,000 studies is the most comprehensive summary yet of the physical science of climate change at almost 4,000 pages. It’s scary and overwhelming as it is for adults. Imagine having to explain that to children who might someday not have a place to live in because of our failure to go through all that and act in time. (Luckily, the UN is kind enough to make a five-point summary that’s easy to digest.)
Children are the most vulnerable
In assessing the impacts of climate change on children, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, “This is the first time a global generation of children will grow up in a world made far more dangerous and uncertain as a result of a changing climate and degraded environment.”
How do we begin to explain climate change to the next generation who is the least responsible in all this and yet the most impacted?
This is a professor’s goal in a new book for children aged 6 to 12. University of the Philippines geology professor Alyssa M. Peleo-Alampay, Ph.D. wrote the book “I Am the Change in Climate Change” (P350, available for pre-order at looking-for-juan.myshopify.com) with kids in mind.
[READ: LOOK: Storybook teaches children how plastic endangers marine creatures]
The activity book explains climate change through age-appropriate language, interactive activities, and child-friendly illustrations, all of which are grounded in science.
Non-profit organization Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development (CANVAS) worked with artists group Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (INK) to create the visuals that accompany the definition, causes, and effects of climate change. It also tackles small things that kids can do to mitigate and adapt to the effects of the exceedingly warming planet.
“What we do today has a huge impact. It affects all of us and all the other living beings that share our planet,” Peleo-Alampay said. “It will determine whether we leave a better world for the future.”
For every copy of “I Am the Change in Climate Change” sold, CANVAS donates copies to two children from poor and disadvantaged communities under its “One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children” campaign.
