Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
learned that some islands will disappear due to rising sea level . There's going to be displacement of people and animals in coastal communities. One student was very aware of the social issues, noting that climate change affects poor people and those who live in Third World countries the most, where it becomes difficult to grow crops and sell them in the marketplace." Indeed, climate change disproportionately affects minority and low-income communities, notes the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, particularly regarding heat waves, poor air quality, and increasingly powerful events such as hurricanes. A United Nations report warns that up to 122 million more people worldwide could be living in extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of climate change and its impact on farmers' incomes, which in turn would impact the ability of poor people to receive education and health care. Ngissah believes students can relate more to climate change when it is viewed through a social justice lens, since most of her students are from low-income communities. "It's crazy to think about," she says. "Climate change affects every part of humanity. My students ask how they can help change this. I tell them we can't sit back; we need to start talking to our friends, our families and politicians. We can cry about it — or we can examine ways to find solutions to our problems together." The Truckee River, made full by the recent runoff. At one point in May, it reached flood stage, after years of drought across the Western region. 30 cta.org Feature Tools, Resources for Teaching About Climate Change • An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017), Al Gore's sequel to An Inconvenient Truth (2006). • Resources and professional development available from the California Education and the Environment Initiative (californiaeei.org). • Videos on climate change produced by National Geographic (video.nationalgeographic.com), including "Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye." • Content from NASA Global Climate Change (climate.nasa.gov) and Climate Kids: NASA's Eyes on the Earth (climatekids.nasa.gov), a website for young learners. • Global Oneness Project's (globalonenessproject.org) free resources and toolkits examining the impact of climate change on people and communities. • Earth-Now, a free app that allows students to manipulate color scales on a 3-D model of Earth and see reports on temperature, carbon dioxide, sea level and other climate factors. • National Center for Science Education at ncse.com/climate. C L I M A T E C H A N G E " These students will be voters soon. The next generation will need to decide what laws should be in place." — DARLENE KILLGORE, OXNARD EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION