https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-do-climate-scientists-tell-their-kids-about-the-future/

Credit: Alistair Berg/Getty Images

Climate change threatens sweltering global temperatures, rising seas, catastrophic storms and disappearing wildlife. Many of us worry about the data climate scientists generate—about the future we are leaving to our children. Yet many of these experts are parents themselves. Scientific American asked six climate scientists who have young or school-age children to answer the same question: “What do you tell your children about the future, considering how climate change might impact their generation?”

The responses surprised us. There were no fatalistic warnings, no instructions about the need for panic or extreme action. Instead these parent-scientists presented honest, compassionate words of encouragement—about how, despite challenges, Earth is a beautiful place where people and nature can thrive.

[Edited submissions follow, presented in order of the youngest children to the oldest.]

Child: Toddler

Parent: Jacqueline Austermann, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, who wrote a letter her child will read in a few years

One thought: Earth is beautiful, and it will continue to be beautiful in different ways.

Climate change will be a major challenge for your generation. While it is already impacting my generation, you will feel the effects with increasing frequency and strength. Unfortunately, my generation is not doing enough to slow down these changes, and it will fall on you to further advance technology and ideology to tackle them. We’re all in the same boat, so international agreements will be key. Also, always keep in mind that efforts to mitigate climate change are inextricably linked with social justice. People who are sick, hungry or unsafe will not have the privilege to act on climate change.

As you grow up, there will likely be a lot of fear about Earth’s future. But every generation has challenges, and it will require smart people like you to rise to the occasion, find solutions and change people’s minds. In Earth’s long history, temperatures have both been much warmer and much colder than today, so don’t worry about Earth changing. But if we change it too fast (as we currently are), humans won’t have time to adapt, so slowing change is crucial—not for Earth but for us. Earth is beautiful, and it will continue to be beautiful in different ways and different places.

Children: One toddler; one baby on the way

Parent: Rosimar Rios-Berrios, National Center for Atmospheric Research

One thought: Play outside and appreciate nature.

My son was born in 2020, during a record-breaking hurricane season that threatened my home island, Puerto Rico. He likes to ask me hypothetical questions such as “When I’m five years old, can we go back to that beach I liked in Puerto Rico?” I take a deep breath before answering, “If that beach is still there in years to come, then for sure we can go back, and you can go swimming there.” More than talking about climate change and what it may do to the places and people we love, my husband and I try to teach our son good practices to mitigate climate change. We encourage him to play outside and to appreciate nature. We go for walks, and we bike or take public transportation whenever we can. We involve him in air-drying clothes, and we explain why we must turn off the lights when we are done playing. We read books about nature and weather.

When the time comes for him to start asking the tough questions, I plan to be honest. I will tell him that our planet is warming because we have put a blanket of pollution in our atmosphere. I will tell him that climate change is real, and it is already causing our weather extremes—such as wildfires and hurricanes—to be more impactful than when I was growing up. I will also tell him that we can slow this down with our everyday actions and with our life choices, such as when we chose to buy an electric vehicle when he was a baby or when we turned to solar power. Above all, I will keep the conversation open, and I will encourage him to talk to his friends and teachers about how our climate is changing and how we can stop it.

Children: One toddler; one baby on the way

Parent: Falko Judt, National Center for Atmospheric Research, who is Rios-Berrios’s husband

One thought: Every small action we take can contribute to a more sustainable future.