The movement for the betterment of climate education is clearly still in its infancy due to the fact there are currently five states that require it to be taught: Illinois, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. Another amazing example of this is within our own school. Our school is based on progressive education, meaning we, as students, are already doing many things that other schools, both private and public, aren’t requiring. Parker also currently has one semester long course specific to climate change, which is a junior and senior dominated elective.
I want it to be clear that I’m not trying to bash the Parker curriculum but rather highlight the clear lack of focus on an issue that will directly affect every future generation to come.
One of the strongest arguments against prioritizing climate education is that there are other important issues and subjects that need to be addressed. Malik, why would we learn about global warming when Florida just signed a bill to stop teaching related to African American history? One of the things I’ve learned about climate change is that it’s tied into every subject we study in our daily lives. Foreign language classes can give us a view of climate change in regions outside of the US like Latin America, Asia, and Europe. In history classes we can tie in the relevance of race, gender, and religion and how they’ve impacted how communities recover from climate-caused disasters of the past. In science classes, students can learn of the basic science driving the anthropogenic impact on emissions and global warming. English classes can serve as a space where students can explore the work of different activists and how their unique experiences have shaped how they fight against climate change.
A few weeks ago, I was just learning about the Santa Ana winds for the first time as my friend texted me about how annoying they were. These winds are caused by large amounts of air pressure accumulating in the desert and moving further out towards the coast. The next text I received from that same friend was telling me about how their house had burned down because of it. Climate change didn’t create the Santa Ana winds, but it sure does amplify the effects of them. Outside of the winds, the arid landscape of California is continuing to further dry because of the worsening effects of climate change. Looking back over the past decade, there have been multiple occurrences of fires in California that have continued to intensify.
One of the communities that has been hit the hardest by the fires in California is Altadena, a primarily Black and brown community. When we look into the effects of how much longer it will take for them to recover compared to a majority white community, we can see a larger systemic issue at hand. The connection between people of color and climate change is so important to me because many people don’t understand that climate change amplifies all of the negative aspects within our society.
