Climate Action for Kids: An Introduction to Climate Change (Simple Introductions to Science) - Softcover

Hunt, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1647554470 ISBN 13: 9781647554477

Verlag: Adventure Publications, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

Learn about the importance of climate and weather, as well as problems—and solutions—associated with climate change, in this essential children’s book.

Become a young climatologist, take care of our planet, and make a positive difference!

Our Earth is truly an amazing planet. Its well-balanced climate provides fresh water, clean air, comfortable temperatures, healthy food, and safe places to live. But that climate is falling out of balance. Find out what’s going wrong and what we can do to fix it! Debut author Ian Hunt is an expert in the field and an advocate of environmental education and activism. Here, he presents an introduction to climatology (or climate science) in this easy-to-understand guide.

Begin by learning about the atmosphere, as well as the basics of the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect. That’s followed by a look at how climate change is measured and how it affects plants, animals, and the environment. A section on causes and solutions introduces different sources of energy, from oil to solar, with suggestions on how improvements can be made in the areas of industry, transportation, and waste.

The book ends on an uplifting, empowering note with a “What Can I Do?” chapter that offers reasons for optimism, small steps to take every day, and 8 impactful activities for families and classrooms: calculating energy use, taking a climate survey, starting a community garden, and more. This kid-friendly guide is filled with full-color photographs and illustrations. It’s engaging and informative as it starts children on a path toward building a better Earth!

Inside You’ll Find

• Beginner’s introduction to climatology
• The basics of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources
• Discussion of climate change’s causes and solutions
• Bonus activities for the family

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Debut author Ian Hunt grew up in Ohio, where he enjoyed winters filled with snow and sledding. He became interested in climate change when he noticed those snowy winters becoming less frequent. He moved from the Midwest to California, where he held a variety of jobs, from hardening homes for fires, to planting native habitats. He earned his MA in Climate and Society from the Columbia University Climate School and now resides in Brooklyn, where he is an advocate for climate education and climate action.

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What Can I Do?

Learning about the causes and impacts of climate change can feel overwhelming!

The good news is, it is not too late to act and avoid the worst impacts scientists have predicted from climate change. Many things must change for us to create a safe and livable future, and this future is within our reach.

Debunking Common Myths About Climate

Understanding climate change isn’t easy. There are also a lot of people who are afraid of climate change or are afraid of the changes we need to make to fix it. Those people can sometimes lie or purposely mislead others about climate change.

Here are some common arguments people use to mislead others about climate change. If you see any of these arguments in real life, now you’ll know what to say in response!

“Isn’t the Climate Always Changing?”

Some people argue that humans cannot be the cause of climate change because the climate of the planet has always been changing since it formed. While it is true that the Earth’s climate has always been variable, we know that current climate change is human-caused.

This graph shows the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere for the past 400,000 years. You can see that the levels of carbon dioxide have changed a lot over the past thousands of years. But if you look closely, you will see that these changes follow a cycle until 1950. The 1950s are well into the time humans had been putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to make energy. You can see that from that point onward the carbon dioxide level skyrocketed to levels never seen in the previous 400,000 years.

Looking at this graph, you will see that the increase in CO2 is causing a lot of warming. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen steadily since 1880. The temperature line goes up and down a bit, but if you look closely, you’ll see that it increases with carbon dioxide.

From these two graphs, we can see two things. First, we have more CO2 in the atmosphere than the Earth has had in its atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. Second, we can see a consistent rise in temperatures with a rise in CO2.

We can see that the Earth’s climate does change a little bit over long periods of time. We can also see that the Earth has never changed in the same way that it is changing now. This drastic and recent change matches with when human beings have been mining and burning fossil fuels from the ground.

“Isn’t it the Sun?”

Some doubters think the sun is to blame for the recent heating. While the sun’s heat is ultimately what is trapped by greenhouse gases and creates warming, the sun’s activity is not responsible for our current warming.

Doubters suggest that an increase in activity from the sun is causing warming in a temporary cycle. That’s not true. We’ve been monitoring the sun closely from space for almost 50 years, and we haven’t seen any unusual activity. These arguments try to take the responsibility away from carbon-producing sources and effectively blame the sun to make humans innocent when it comes to climate change.

Scientists, time and time again, have proven that the sun’s own cycles don’t really affect the temperature on Earth all that much.

This graph shows solar activity compared to global temperature on Earth. If this argument were true, and the sun is what is heating the Earth more recently, then we would see the lines stay together the whole graph. However, in the graph, we see the lines move away from each other at the end. Since this means the sun’s activity and global temperature aren’t directly connected, there must be something else increasing global temperature. The answer: greenhouse gases.

“What About the Scientists Who Don’t Agree?”

You may hear the occasional scientist say that climate change isn’t caused by fossil fuels, or that it won’t be harmful. But those scientists are in a tiny minority.

Overall, 97% of scientists believe that climate change is happening now and that it is caused by human actions. This is a very high number. This means for every 100 scientists, only 3 don’t believe in climate change. If all 97 scientists agree, and only 3 disagree, then the voices that agree must have a point.

An important part of science is that it is peer-reviewed. This means when a scientist wants to publish their findings on climate change, other scientists repeat their experiments or look at the papers that the scientists read, to make sure that the research is correct. While scientists are often very good at their jobs, they can still have their own biases, and peer review helps make sure that those biases don’t get in the way of good science.

However, sometimes people just want to harm the science that 97% of scientists believe. Here are important questions to ask when someone is trying to make people doubt scientists and their experiments:

• Are they being paid? Do they work for a company that might lose money from climate-positive actions, like a fossil fuel company?
• Are they arguing honestly about the subject (climate science), or is their main goal simply to turn people against the science? One way to tell is if they are outright lying or simply ignore evidence in favor of insults, bullying, or talking points.
• Does the person have a science background of any kind? Is it in a relevant field? If not, why consider their opinion? (Someone informed in the field seems a better option.)
• Do they have a strong bias in their work or views?

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Adventure Publications
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1647554470
• ISBN 13: 9781647554477
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 160
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar