Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1463867
Garcia also shows The Twilight Zone episodes that once seemed futuristic, such as "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," where suburban residents battle each other when they lose power, or "e Midnight Sun," where two women cope with oppressive heat and a lack of water. At first students wonder why they are watching old black and white TV shows, but they soon see the connection with today 's climate crisis. " We have to educate our children about cli- mate change. ey are the future. Hopefully, they can make changes and reverse some of the dam- age that's been done." Riverside looks at sea change Pia VanMeter, a marine biology teacher at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, says most people believe climate change occurs on land, not sea. But oceans absorb most of the excess heat the planet produces. "e biggest threat to our oceans is that they are becoming more acidic," says the Riverside City Teachers Association mem- ber. "e ocean is absorbing more CO 2 from the atmosphere. "We have to educate our children about climate change. Hopefully, they can make changes and reverse some of the damage that's been done." —Veronica Garcia, Garden Grove Education Association is is changing the chemical composition of the ocean that affects the amount of carbonate ions needed by calcifying organisms such as oysters and calcareous plankton, which affects the entire food chain. Coral bleaching occurs as a result, as well as increasing temperatures. e sustainability of our oceans is threatened." A new study by the Monterey Bay Aquarium finds that global warming reached a turning point in 2014, when more than half of the world's oceans experienced extreme heat. Marine heat waves, which hit the California coast from 2014 to 2016 causing environmental disruption, are becoming more common and severe. Another recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that sea levels will rise as much as 6 inches in Califor- nia and along the West Coast by 2050, and that major flooding will occur five times as often in the next three decades as it does today. VanMeter says students are eager for the truth and want to avoid "fake news" that is circulat- ing. Some have done field studies with the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, visiting tidepools and collecting biodiversity data through the years. eir research shows less bio- diversity compared to previous years — and an explosion of sea urchins and fewer starfish. "We share our data with Scripps and record observations. It's Students in Veronica Garcia's class. 20 cta.org Pia VanMeter Feature