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- [00:01]
Emily Gracey
In our lifetime alone, we've seen a huge shift in the Earth's climate from record heat waves, rising sea levels, more severe weather, increased wildfires. It can feel like the world is becoming a scarier place by the minute. To those who are old enough to have an understanding of the past and memories of the way things used to be, it can feel overwhelming to witness these changes. And our kids can feel that weight. They can sense our anxiety. This is a merging of topics that collectively covers two big aspects of my life as a working mom and a scientist. How do we talk to our kids about climate change? Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. They recognize problems, they're curious about our world. But they also deserve a time of innocence, a period of their lives that isn't plagued by fear. For parents, it can be a complicated issue to navigate.
- [00:56]
Unknown
How do you not have children become apathetic when they learn, okay, we know this has been bad, but we're still doing it?
- [01:05]
How do we comfort children? Or how do we assure them that something's being done about it?
- [01:11]
Emily Gracey
As parents, you have questions, and one group of climate scientists is hoping to give you some answers.
- [01:19]
Dr. Melissa Burt
One of the best things that you can do as a mother, as an individual, is to share, you know, facts, your concerns, some solutions that are out there with your family, with your friends in your community.
- [01:31]
Emily Gracey
Today I'm going off the radar to talk to the science moms, women parents, climate educators who want to raise kids that are informed and inspired but unafraid.
- [01:42]
Dr. Melissa Burt
We owe this to our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids so that they know that we were doing the things necessary in order to turn this situation around.
- [01:53]
Emily Gracey
We'll be diving into your questions about how and when to talk to your kids about the world we live in. I don't ever want to make my.
- [02:02]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Kids afraid, but I do want them to know that they have the ability to make a difference.
- [02:11]
Emily Gracey
I'm meteorologist Emily Gracey, and you're listening to off the Radar, a production of the National Weather Desk. On the show, we dig deep into topics about weather, climate, the ocean, space, and much more. Our goal is to help you better understand the weather and to love it as much as we do.
- [02:33]
Unknown
Hey, prime members, have you heard? You can listen to your favorite podcasts ad free good news With Amazon Music, you have access to the largest catalog of ad free top podcasts included with your prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to Amazon.com adfreepodcast that's Amazon.com adfreepodcast to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads.
- [02:57]
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- [03:37]
Dr. Melissa Burt, I am so excited to talk to you today. And this is a topic that's so important, perhaps even more than I realized because.
- [03:47]
Emily Gracey
And I'll get into it in a.
- [03:48]
Unknown
Little bit, I, I put out this call to moms to ask questions about climate change and was just overwhelmed with a response. So we'll get into that in a minute. But I want to talk about science moms first. Kind of a simple term, but it encompasses so much more. Can you tell me what science moms is?
- [04:05]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah. Or who we are?
- [04:06]
Emily Gracey
Yeah.
- [04:07]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Well, first, you know, thank you, Emily, for having me here today. I'm super excited to be here. But Science moms. So we are a group of climate scientists and mothers who have really come together to educate and empower other moms around climate change. We came together because not only do we study climate change, but we also care about the climate and climate change because of the future of our children. So our goal is really to demystify the science behind climate change, communicate its impacts in a relatable and sort of a digestible way, and really get other mothers to want to take action to protect their kids future.
- [04:49]
Unknown
So can you tell me about the group of women that this consists of?
- [04:53]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah. So we started in 2020, I believe. We came together and it started with just six of us. Many of us knew each other or we were in very similar circles together in the climate sphere. And we just decided, hey, let's do something different, right? Like, let's do something different and figure out a way in which we can, you know, really connect with other mothers. Because I think, you know, as you know, or as many of your listeners know, like moms reach out to other moms to get advice on, like, a number of different things. If it's like, what's the best stroller, you know, like what's the best car seat, all of those different types of things as you're, as your children are growing and learning. And we thought it would be a really great thing to just come talk to mothers, but also scientists who really have studied this, you know, experience this and really use our expertise in a way to meet a different audience. But an audience is really sort of central to who we are and in really what we do. So we really use our expertise and our experience to connect with moms in many different ways. But I think the key about it is that we, we are, we try to be really relatable, provide information that's helpful for them. But also we really focus on the science. Right. So it's a nonpartisan group of women. We come from many different backgrounds, experiences life spaces in that way. And our goal is really just to empower moms to make informed decisions and also to take action. And we know from other studies that like 83% of moms are really concerned about climate change because of their kids future. And so we want to be one of the tools that really can help them understand the issue, but also find ways in which they can take action.
- [06:33]
Unknown
So can you tell me how that manifests? I know you have a website, but what does that look like? How is that information going out to mothers?
- [06:40]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, so one way is through our website, so sciencemoms.com we also have opportunities to do podcasts just like this one. So we do podcasts. We have done some media appearances on like local TV stations. We've also been interviewed by a number of different journals, like the New York Times. I did one a few years ago now that was this group called Scary Mommy, which is like a mom blog group. And it was really cool to interact.
- [07:10]
Unknown
With like all familiar with that website.
- [07:13]
Dr. Melissa Burt
So like it's just a cool way like through pretty much any type of media, we've figured out ways in which we can have conversations with moms. We've even done some like FaceTime calls with moms just to answer some of their questions. So through Instagram, live, through Facebook, Facebook conversations, we've just tried many different ways in which to just get that conversation out there.
- [07:34]
Unknown
So you're a mom, obviously. How, how old is your child or children?
- [07:39]
Dr. Melissa Burt
My daughter is 8. How old is she?
- [07:42]
Emily Gracey
She's 8.
- [07:44]
Dr. Melissa Burt
She's in third grade. And essentially, you know, we started this, you know, when she was too.
- [07:50]
Unknown
Was she part of the inspiration? Like what motivated you, what kind of inspired you to get this started?
- [07:57]
Dr. Melissa Burt
So you know, I've been studying the Arctic and climate change for, like, 20 years. I understood at the time, or I still understand, you know, the impacts on climate change on our whole Earth, but in particular, really understanding how it had an impact on the northern regions. But I think when I became a mom myself, it was more than just the science, like, wanting to think about, you know, what is the future? What is the future of this planet, you know, for my daughter and for her peers, and what does that mean for her, her family to come, or even to grandchildren to come? Like, in really wanting to think about ways in which we can change or just to provide another avenue for an audience to learn about climate change. I think many people know, you know, Inconvenient Truth movie and like, some other people who've talked about climate change, but to connect with, you know, a different audience over a really shared value that many of us hold deep to our hearts was just a really great way for us to come together as scientists and also as mothers to connect with other mothers.
- [09:00]
Unknown
Yeah, it's interesting. I. When I knew I was going to do this with you, I put out a call to mothers, you know, for questions about climate change, and I put out a call for, you know, stuff related to the podcast all the time, and I just hear crickets. But this was amazing. I was overwhelmed, just stunned by the amount of questions that came in and came in, like, fast and furious and kept coming. Like, people would ask a question, and then they'd say, oh, I have more, and they kept asking questions. And one that. So I was surprised by that. But the other thing that kind of shocked me and shook me a little bit was the amount of women that said. Started their question with this is probably a stupid question, or they said, you don't have to use this. Or they even. Somebody even sent me a question, and the title was Dumb Question about the Ocean. So I'm like, what is it about women and moms that we don't feel like we deserve to ask questions or don't feel like we deserve answers to this?
- [10:01]
Dr. Melissa Burt
I think it's. Well, like, number one, that's amazing that you had such a great response to this poll. But I think, think as moms, maybe we just want to have all the answers, and we want to, you know, make sure that we're making informed decisions about things. And so we're worried that maybe we should know something that we don't know something about. And so you sort of enter in this. Well, this might not be a great question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Right. And so I think it's just getting past that. It's okay to not know an answer to something and really to seek, you know, a response. And that's the beauty, I think, about science moms. Right. Like there are no dumb questions. We just really want to provide whatever it is that you need to understand that issue better so that you know what you can do to take action.
- [10:48]
Unknown
That's a really good point. And I feel the same. Like I feel these women's pain because I'm an atmospheric scientist, I'm a mom, I should know the answers to these questions, but I don't know all the answers. So that's why I have you on the show today, because I want to ask you these questions. So is it okay, can we go through some of these questions? Yeah, let's do it and just answ answer some of these and talk about them and why people are concerned about this. So I'm just going to go through. Okay. So Beth wants to know what kind of climate changes her 4 year old daughter might have to deal with as she grows up.
- [11:17]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, that's a great question, Beth. So I would say increasing temperatures. So we've already seen, you know, from a, from a perspective over the last few decades that our temperatures have been increasing. I think also as your 4 year old grows up, more and more extreme weather. And I don't know where Beth lives.
- [11:36]
Unknown
She's in the Northeast.
- [11:37]
Dr. Melissa Burt
In the Northeast you maybe aren't having specifically wildfires, but I know more recently the Northeast has experienced lots of the smoke from wildfires, specifically from Canada. Right. And so increased smoke and like sort of that inhaling of that has really big health impacts as well. So thinking about if children have asthma or any of the other sort of respiratory illnesses, those are things that are just impacts of what climate change and how they can have an impact on your, on your health. Even think about just poor air quality depending on like where you live. Right. And the greater increases in the amount of carbon pollution that are put into that to our air, the more or poor air quality that we experience in that way. So I think your daughter, all of our kids will just see those impacts from temperatures, from extreme weather to just air quality in general.
- [12:31]
Unknown
And that kind of leads into my next question from Kara. She's a nurse practitioner. She deals with patients all the time. She wants to know what are the health impacts of climate change. She talked about air quality. What, what else is there?
- [12:45]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, I think, you know, from a health perspective and I'll say I'm not a health professional at all. But what I will say, I think it comes down a lot to like our exposure. Right. If it's our exposure to things like extreme heat, and we know that extreme heat impacts vulnerable communities more. So if that's either the elderly or younger populations, just that exposure or the presence of being in the extreme heat can be a difficult thing on your health. Also poor air quality, as I said, and we as we have more and more, I guess, bad air pollution, it could lead to more respiratory issues even with our increased temperatures. Right. The longer that warmer period is in existence, you could think about the more seasonal allergies that are out there. And you know, sometimes I suffer for seasonal allergies. I don't really want that to get worse. But you know, those are all related to how it can impact our health. You also see things as I spoke about, related to, you know, the increased wildfires which then also increase our exposure to smoke, which again has an impact on respiratory. So I like to think a lot about it from the lens that like if you already have some concerning health issues, many of those things can be exasperated because of climate change. If that's heat, if that's air quality, you could even think about more increased storms which lead to floods, which could lead to more sort of standing water in areas. And that leads opportunities for, you know, more water or vector borne illnesses due to contaminated water, things like that.
- [14:19]
Unknown
Denver wants to know who's responsible for tracking climate change. I think, you know, there are concerns that people have about trusted resources. So who's tracking this? Who's in charge of understanding this?
- [14:31]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Well, I think there's a lot, there's a lot of people. There's also a lot of organizations even just across the world. So here in the United States, we think of government agencies like the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, you may know it as noaa. They have a lot of scientists who work within their organizations that really seem to collect, analyze data in that way. We also have a number of like private companies who also do some work from a monitoring perspective as it relates to weather and also climate. So I think there's a diverse spectrum of individuals and organizations that are sort of responsible for that tracking and that monitoring that help here in the United States.
- [15:17]
Emily Gracey
As a mom who is very budget conscious, how will climate change affect our wallets?
- [15:23]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yes. So I think it could be good or it could not be right. So let's think about as this example, you know, as our temperature is warm and maybe this is a question around like heating and cooling of your home. So let's say, you know, right now you live in a place, your air conditioning bill is, is super, super high because it's just been hot. And you know, here in Colorado, we've already had over 90 some days, or maybe it was 60 some days of 90 degree temperatures, above 90 degrees temperatures. So the more and more you use your air conditioning, the more energy costs that are put out there and the more impact that it's having on your wallet. One of the things that we really like to talk about with science moms is maybe can you consider other alternatives for heating and cooling of your home? So you could consider something like a heat pump, which is sort of an air conditioning unit and heating system in one. But the good thing about heat pumps is that many states and also at the federal level are providing a number of different tax incentives or tax credits. If you think about swapping out, you know, whatever you currently use to something like that. So I think, you know, if you stay, you know where we are right now, and you continue to do things that you are, that you currently are using, yes, that could have a really big increase in your pocket. But you could consider other opportunities where that could have a benefit where more money could be coming to you. That's just one example.
- [16:48]
Unknown
Interesting. Okay, so there could be some incentives down the road. She wants to know also about food quality in the future.
- [16:55]
Dr. Melissa Burt
We know with increased temperatures and more warming that there will be changes in the growing seasons and growing places of many of maybe the foods in which we love or things that we care for. So we're probably seeing extensions of the growing season in different areas. And we could predict possibly also imagine having sort of shrinking of some of the growing seasons in places I think a lot about. I'm from Maryland. I love crabs. Every single time I go back to the east coast, you know, I'm going to have some blue crabs. And we know that our ocean temperatures are also warming. As, you know, global climate change is actually happening. So there could be a benefit if the temperatures are warming. You know, blue, blue crab populations are likely also growing in that space. But what we also can see because of things like ocean acidification, we're seeing changes to other species that may be in the ecosystem in the ocean and that could have a direct impact on, you know, the prey of blue crabs in general in that way. So I think, you know, as climate changes, we're seeing increases in our warming of the oceans, which will have an impact on the seafood industry seeking tourism on our coast.
- [18:07]
Emily Gracey
For the occasional meat eater, is it still best to choose chicken over beef due to the negative impacts that cattle farming has on our climate?
- [18:19]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah. This question comes up a lot when we think about food. And I think, you know, the way that I will say is these are like individual actions that people can choose to do. If you choose to modify your dietary consumption because you think about these animals in this way, I think that that's an individual action that you have to make a choice as to what you want to do. I would say, broadly from a climate change perspective, we understand that these individual actions aren't the only things that need to happen to have a greater impact on climate change. I really like to think about it from, yes, as an individual, you can make the choices that make the most sense for your family. And if that's beef or chicken or no meat at all, that's really great for you. But I think to solve the climate issue, we really need larger collective action.
- [19:08]
Unknown
And I think that's where a lot of mothers feel overwhelmed and hopeless, is that they don't feel like they can make a difference. They don't feel like doing this one thing that they have control over in their own home is going to make a difference. So can you give me maybe a few options for women to feel more empowered in their own homes that something the most impactful things they can do individually to combat this?
- [19:30]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah. And I don't want to say that these individual actions, like, don't matter, so. Because I understand, like, if you feel that you're doing something that gives you hope that you're having an impact. So here's what I would say to other moms, and I'd say this to anybody, really. I have a couple of things. The first is to consider swapping out some stuff so you can swap out, you know, polluting stuff for some clean things. All of that helps you save money. Getting back to that financial question, so you could consider things like going electric for your cars, right? Swapping out, you know, things that emit a lot of emissions, swapping that out for an electric car. If you can't do the electric car thing, you could think about ways in which you could electrify your home. So switching to electric stoves or electric appliances. The benefit of that is that there's a number of different tax credits as well that can really help, you know, bring more money into your pockets by sort of being more efficient in the ways in which you're using energy. You could weatherize your home if you can do that. You know, thinking about your doors, your windows, sort of upgrading some of those things. You can even work with your local energy companies or utility companies to think about what efforts are there. I think the other things, and some people are like, but I think that this is really important is to really share information about climate change. Like one of the best things that you can do as a mother, as an individual is to share, you know, facts, your concerns, some solutions that are out there with your family, with your friends in your community. And I think the more and more that we can talk about it, the more that it raises this issue as an important issue, right? The fact that you got this, these number of questions because of this really speaks to the fact that it's an important issue. So I think the more and more that you can share information and to really share trustworthy science backed content. And I think this is where science moms comes in, right? We have a number of different videos on our website that are entertaining. There's some really fun ones. There's also some ones that I think sort of pull at your heartstrings as to like, why we have to do this, right? It shows that the places and the people and the things that we love, like those are directly being impacted by climate change. So I think the more and more that you can share that this is not this far reaching thing that's happening. It's literally happening in your local communities, in your neighborhoods, and getting people around you to see that this is an important issue. I think for moms, like, that's literally the most important thing you can do. I was talking with my neighbor who's also a mom at the bus stop, even just last year, and we had this conversation about, you know, wildfires in Colorado. And she was like, yeah, I grew up here, you know, we used to have like a really, you know, a reasonable wildfire season. You knew that it happened, it was a healthy thing for the forest. But now we're seeing more and more wildfires and that season is like extending all the way throughout the year. And I said, oh, do you know, do you think you have any ideas to like, what may be causing that? And she's like, I have no idea. And I was like, well, have you heard? You know, climate change can be having an impact. And she's like, really? On wildfires? And I was like, yeah. So like even just like small conversations like that in your community I think.
- [22:42]
Unknown
Are really helpful is like knowing your audience. And I think people are fearful about talking about it. For one, they don't Feel like they have enough information, which now we know where to get that information. Two, they don't really know how it's going to be received. So I'm curious about when you're kind of opening those lines of communication, knowing your audience. You know, I've heard. I've heard that, like, people who don't believe in climate change cannot be persuaded. And I know personally, I have the personality where I don't really want to try, or I'm like, okay, you do you. But I'm curious how to kind of open those lines of communication and make it not a. Like a combative conversation.
- [23:26]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Right? It's kind of like, you know, I used to be like, if I'm on an airplane and I'm doing some work, I really don't want anyone to see what I'm looking at because I really don't want to spark a debate around climate change. Right. But what I've learned, and this does not work for everybody, but I would say, you know, getting. If you know the individual, or getting to know the individual, to see about something that they truly care about. So what is something that they truly value? You know, for me, I'm talking about my kid, right? And so that's me connecting over a shared value of being a mom. But it could be, you know, someone who loves to fish, right. And connecting with them over the fishing industry for as much as you could potentially talk about it. But then to talk about, you know, how we know that, you know, the oceans are changing, right? And so we can connect that to climate change in a way. So I. I think if there's ways in which you can have a conversation over another shared value that somebody has, then, you know, nine times out of ten, they're willing to, like, enter into the conversation. And I think for me, I've just. I just listen to people. People really just want to talk. So I'll just let them talk about whatever it is and then I'll try to, like, come in and, like, enter in in particular ways based off of just what they said, right? To think about how can I make that connection in a quick second as to how climate change connects with whatever value they may be speaking about.
- [24:50]
Unknown
So I have a friend who moved to Maine from Charleston, South Carolina, and they had mentioned to us that part of the reason they were moving was because of the sea level rising. They believed, truly believed, that the city of James island would be completely submerged underwater in five years from now. Based on what I've learned and read and heard, it will take Quite a lot longer than that. What do you think that timeframe looks like and how accurate or inaccurate is that? Guesstimate.
- [25:24]
Dr. Melissa Burt
I think it has been shown that, you know, sea level has increased in Charleston over the last few decades. Now is it, will it be five years, 10 years, 15 years? I can't speak directly to that, but I think one of the, because this is an issue in many different coastal cities, specifically in these low lying areas or even on an island in that fact, is that many cities have been thinking about it from a mitigation perspective, like what can we do in this coastal city to think about how we will adapt to climate change and sea level rise? So cities all across the US we know that most of our populations actually live in the coastal communities of the United States, that they're working on things like improving drainage and also flood barriers for when storms do come through. They're seeking ways in which they can elevate roads, elevate bridges, and thinking about what is our true resiliency plans for these cities. Because we don't want them to go away, we don't want them to just go off the map, right? So really thinking about ways in which these cities can adapt. And I would say to all of your listeners to think about, you know, maybe you should interrogate, you know, the city of Charleston or other cities across the United States to say, what are you doing to mitigate and adapt because of sea level rise? And that's another way that you can have that conversation and share, share your concerns, right? If that's with your local government or city government in that way, to learn about the actions that they're taking to, to really combat this issue around climate change. I am just wondering how you start.
- [27:00]
Unknown
The process with young children introduc to climate change.
- [27:05]
Dr. Melissa Burt
So I always say that I don't think there is a specific age in which you can talk to children about climate change. You can talk to them whenever you are ready to talk about it. But what I think is really important, especially as you have young children, is to really get them to have an appreciation of our planet. So as a preschooler, as a toddler, I was taking my daughter on walks, exposing her to nature. And so on this walk or in this stroll, getting them to see, feel, listen to the nature that's around them and you can have conversations of what is this like, what does this feel like? And you can start to have conversations about when we use our cars, it puts really icky stuff into the air. That's called pollution. And the pollution is Part of what makes the Earth hotter. But mentioned to them, we have a responsibility to protect our planet and getting them even at this early age to think about what can you do to keep the planet healthy, to keep the planet clean, to keep the planet safe, and what can you do as a family in that way? I think getting really young children just to have an appreciation, to be a better steward of the Earth is a great way to introduce the topic around climate change as they move into like older ages. If it's elementary school, you could say, hey, have you heard anything about climate change at school, right? What do they know? I think parents are oftentimes scared to bring up the conversation because they're worried that they don't know the answers. So what I really try to get moms and parents to do is like, why don't you use this as an opportunity to like, learn together, right? We read a lot of books, so let's find a book, let's read this book together. And to really understand that issue, even just a little bit more, right? On our sciencemoms.com website, we have a number of book resources specifically for books with children. There's a great book around climate change with the Magic School Bus. So for those of you that are out there that remember the Magic School Bus, there's a really great book that focuses on climate change in that way. So I think, you know, reading is a great way and, you know, I would say, like, don't be scared. Scared to say, you know, I don't know, but let's learn about this together. And as your kids get older, as they go into middle school and get into high school, they likely will know more about it than you might. But I think that's an opportunity to even just learn with them and to get them to speak a little bit about what they know, what do they want to know more about? And like, you know, the Internet is endless, right? There's a lot of information that you can learn in that way. What would you say are some good facts for school age kids regarding climate change and some of the steps they can actually start taking themselves? So my daughter said to me last night, she said, I'm going to make sure I turn off the water faucet when I'm brushing my teeth. And I was like, oh, who told you that? And she's like, oh, we talked about it in science class today. So I think even getting them to think about energy conservation, right, don't maybe not say energy conservation, but you could say things like, hey, turning off the Lights or taking a shorter shower or, you know, turning off the faucet when you're brushing their teeth. Getting them to think about, I can have ownership on these things that I'm doing, or, you know, the typical, like, what is it? Reduce, reuse, recycle. Getting them to think about what those are and what can they do in their own homes. We had a question about food choices. Get them to think about their food choices. Is there a day where you're like, it's Meatless Monday. Let's do Meatless Monday. And, like, as a family, really learn and think about why we're doing the things that. That we're doing in that way. I think older kids could also, you know, start a sustainability club or, you know, could join the sustainability club that's at your school. So I think there's. There's little things that they can do or ask them, like, what do you want to do? Do you want to plant a tree? You know, should we, you know, donate to this organization that if I do this, they'll plant a tree? Like, think about things like that.
- [31:06]
Unknown
So my question is about eco anxiety in small children or maybe in children of all ages. I've been reading about it since about 2017, that they get anxiety and bad feelings about climate change. So what can we do to ensure that doesn't happen? How do we comfort children or how do we assure them that something's being done about it?
- [31:34]
Dr. Melissa Burt
I think more and more, this conversation around, if it's not anxiety, it's like the fear about it and parents wanting to not make their kids be scared about it. But I think it's really important for kids to, you know, to have those feelings, right? And for us as parents to really normalize that it's okay to have those feelings if you're scared, if you're anxious about it. And the way that I sort of turn it around and I don't know, I think that this helps is to get. I think the best way to not feel scared about the issue or to have that fear is to do something to help. So it goes back to, like, what can I do? So if you feel as though you're contributing to the larger problem or to help solve the larger problem, then you feel a little bit less scared or anxious. And I. And I frame this all in this notion around hope. Like, I would hate for my daughter to say, mom, you're an atmospheric scientist, you're a climate scientist, and you're doing nothing for this. I was like, well, actually, we'll have science Moms, plus other things too, right? And so just to like, I have the hope because I know that I'm doing the best that I can do and by having conversations with you, with others around why we should be doing this and why we should talk about it, I feel like we are getting more and more in and training more and more people to see about the importance of the issue and getting them to like, demand and ask like, hey, what are you doing about this? Right. Hey, in my local community, like, what are your sustainability efforts and are you thinking about how this will have an impact on our city and our community in the future?
- [33:10]
Unknown
Somebody asked about school curriculum and they were curious about why climate science is not part of school curriculum or is it in some places and we're just not aware of this.
- [33:21]
Dr. Melissa Burt
But I think it is a state dependent thing. I think oftentimes, I mean, to me it's just science. So I don't know why we're not talking about it, but I think there are a lot of sort of guide, or maybe there aren't any guidelines from a school standard or science standards bases that speak about it. But you know, I've had a lot of conversations even here in our local school district around like, climate change is really about a change in energy that we're putting into the atmosphere. And we talk about energy all the time in science. We may not call it climate change, but we can talk about the topics maybe without saying the names. And many times schools and school boards are worried about the politics and the political issues that are out there, which is putting up a barrier as to why they don't want to talk about it. And then I think also that, you know, teachers maybe just like moms, are not prepared to talk about it. They don't feel like they have the information to bring it up. But I think again, there's a number of resources. If it's not directly happening in your children's classrooms, there are a number of climate change education resources that are online that you could start that conversation or have a group of conversations. You could start a book club with your kids focused around climate change education as a way to do that if you feel as though your school district is not able to do it. But I would 100% advocate for it to be in all of our curriculum because it's something that's real, it's happening, we're experiencing it, and it's not going to go away until we do something about it.
- [34:53]
Unknown
I've definitely heard this question a lot. Jan from New Hampshire wants To know, how do we know that the temperature changes we have been experiencing are climate change and not just a natural cycle?
- [35:04]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, I always get that. I would say so. I think there are some things here. There clearly is the natural cycle of how weather and climate happen. But what is different about the climate and the change that we're seeing now is the rate in which it's happening. And this is because of the human induced, the anthropogenic components of it. There's a larger natural cycle, but the rate in which this change that we're seeing right now has nothing to do with the natural peace. Hey there.
- [35:38]
Unknown
We're here in Maryland. We have had really mild winters here. We haven't had to use our snow gear. You know, you buy it and then you don't need it. Probably for the past two years we haven't had significant snow. Is that climate change?
- [35:56]
Dr. Melissa Burt
You can't say one particular winter is climate change. But when you look at it across the average, Right, like are the winters becoming warmer based off of a 30 year average or a 40 year average? We can say yes. Right. And so we can link it in that way, but we can't say that a particular day, week, month, season, you know, winter is specifically climate change. You have to think about it over the long term average.
- [36:21]
Unknown
And I can see how, you know, mixed messages are definitely an issue because, you know, Climate Central is putting out all this information about their climate attribution science and they pull up specific events, they pull up specific days and say this day was 90% more likely to be hot because of climate change. So this is why people get confused.
- [36:42]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, it's confusing. And I think, you know, they're basing their, you know, their, their shifts on a larger, you know, average of things. But I think people hear at times what they want to hear. And so sometimes that can quickly turn into like, is this true information? Is this misinformation? Is this mixed messaging? What is it? Right. And so I mean, I just think it's important to say, you know, this is based off of a larger, longer term average. And that's the difference really between like weather and climate.
- [37:11]
Unknown
Yeah, And I think people tend to grasp on like a one loud voice that may voice a differing opinion. But can you give me kind of a, a brief overview of like general scientific consensus here?
- [37:23]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah, like, and, and, and so it's like 99% of scientists agree that climate change is happening. Right. The loud voices are that 1%. Right. But there is scientific consensus on the fact that like climate change is happening and it's happening now and it's impacting all the places that we love, all the things that we love in that way. So, and I think it really comes to the notion that like the science behind climate change is actually pretty simple. You know, as we continue to do things like burning fossil fuels, if that's from cars, other things like that, we are creating more and more carbon pollution into the atmosphere, into the Earth. Right? And you can think about it as there's this sort of heat trapping blanket that's around the Earth. The more and more carbon pollution that we put into the air, the thicker and thicker that blanket is getting around the Earth. And that is what is keeping the warming here on the Earth. So I think the science technically is quite simple. You put more stuff in, you put more pollution in the air, things get warmer, it continues to increase, and that's why our climate is changing.
- [38:30]
Unknown
Can I, I have this one voice memo that somebody sent me and it kind of like tugged at my heartstrings a little. Can I, can I play it for you? I just want to get your feedback on it.
- [38:38]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Yeah.
- [38:40]
Unknown
When my daughter was in elementary school, she did a research project on plastic bags and the damage they do. And you know, she researched everything and put it all together. And one of the things that she put in her paper that kind of stunned me was the amount of time that it's been documented that we've known that plastics are dangerous and harmful to the environment. It was, you know, well over 100 years, I guess. If this is a question, why is it so hard to make change? How do you not have children become apathetic when they learn, okay, we know this is been bad, but we're still doing it. You know, you think about laws that are passed or changes that are made, you know, and it'll take a year or two. And you know, this has been such a long, consistent problem. I'm just wondering why it's so hard to make anything happen. And I know it's a political issue, but if the science is there, shouldn't that be enough?
- [39:49]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Oh yeah, that is a great question. I think the science is here. We know that the science is here. I think people have had the information for a long time. I think change is hard and I think people don't want to do the work to make it happen. And so that's where I feel as though we need our leaders at all levels. At the local level, the state level, the national level, they have the space and the platform to make the change that's necessary for us to see what we need to see to do the things to stop, to stop climate change, to reduce our emissions. They have tools and the keys and the power to make it happen. Are they not, do they not know? I'm pretty sure they know. And I think that's, again, goes back to my point of why we, as moms, as parents, as people here in this country, but all across the world, have to use our voices to speak up and really demand that they listen to us and that they make the changes necessary. And this is where we are right now. You can use your voice and also your vote to research, to learn about who the leaders are at all of these levels, right? Ask them and demand for them to do something about it and to learn what are they interested in, what are the things that they are advocating for and how does that align with, you know, what you want to use your voice for. Our lawmakers, our leaders, need to respond to their constituents, right, and to their stakeholders. And however they choose to do that, if that's through a letter, if that's through a call, if that's through an email, right? We have the ability to use our voice to demand that change. And this is where it goes beyond, just like our individual actions, we need at that upper level for them to make that change and to put policies in place and hold to it, you know, that we can actually, you know, make the change that we really want to see. And we owe this to our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids, so that they know that we were doing the things necessary in order to, you know, turn this situation around.
- [42:20]
Unknown
Your daughter's eight. My daughter's seven. Is it too late to turn the situation around or is there still some hope?
- [42:27]
Dr. Melissa Burt
I mean, I always have hope. I can't not, like, you know, you could have this conversation, it could be so doom and gloom. But the only way that we can get back up and continue to do the things that we're doing is because we have hope, right? I have hope that, you know, my fellow science moms, that we are having these conversations. I have hope that the people who are listening to this podcast, they tuned in for a reason, right? I have hope that, you know, that next generation is still going to keep it on us to do something about it. We owe that to them, right? We owe that to them. And all we can do is to continue to work towards that, that goal, right? To work towards, you know, cutting these emissions and to move towards clean energy, because that's really the right thing to do to protect this planet. We only have one planet. The planet is going to still be here. But is it a planet in which we want our future generations or even our current generation to be on Right? And so what can we do for the health, for the safety, for this one planet that we have?
- [43:32]
Unknown
Dr. Melissa Burke, is there anything else you want to add?
- [43:37]
Dr. Melissa Burt
Wow. You know, sciencemoms.com I think, you know, that's a great first stop for anyone who wants to learn more, who wants to talk about it more, and really to take action for yourself, for your kids, for your families and for also for your community. So thank you, Emily, for having me. It was a pleasure.
- [43:59]
Emily Gracey
If you have more questions about climate change, make sure you check out sciencemoms.com youm can also share this episode with someone and start a conversation.
- [44:09]
Unknown
And make sure you're following the show.
- [44:10]
Emily Gracey
On your favorite podcast platform because next week is part two of this Science mom series. I'm going to share stories of success, regular people raising extraordinary humans that are keeping our planet healthy. Off the Radar is a production of the National Weather Desk. Make sure you're following the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [44:32]
Unknown
New episodes publish every Tuesday morning.
- [44:34]
Emily Gracey
You can also now listen to the show on YouTube. Just search the National Weather Desk and find it under the podcast tab. Thank you to all the moms that sent in their climate questions today. Beth, Val, Dember, Kara, Jana, Kelly, Cheryl, Allison, Nancy, Jan M, Jan W and Megan.
- [44:52]
Unknown
A Huge thanks to Dr. Melissa Burt.
- [44:54]
Emily Gracey
For answering all of those questions today and for being a guest on the show. A shout out to my associate producer Brian Petrus for all of his help on this week's episode. For the National Weather Desk, I'm meteorologist Emily Gracey. Make it a great day.