How to Talk to Kids about Climate Change with Bill Weir
In this podcast episode, journalist and environmentalist Bill Weir provides valuable insights and guidance on discussing climate change with children.
INTRODUCTION:
The Earth is changing. For those who have experienced erratic weather, major forest fires, air quality issues, and rising sea levels, there’s no denying it. I still remember- getting lost in a 3-foot blizzard with my dear friend, Randi, at age 3 in the blizzard of 1979, when we were just 3.5 years old, and my daughter recently asked me, where all the snow goes—it was like it never happens anymore. What do we have to think about for the future? How do we talk about what’s happening and how to make things better for our kids? How do we address Bill the worry and challenges of raising children during climate change without getting mired in fear—and still turning towards hope? It’s time for all of us to make some sense of the world around us for parents, for teachers, and for the kids. For this, we turn to my next guest, Bill Weir.
Bio:
Bill Weir is a veteran anchor, writer, producer, and host who came to CNN in 2013 after a decade of award-winning journalism at ABC News. In 2019, he was named the network’s first Chief Climate Correspondent, drawing on his experience creating and hosting the primetime CNN Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” now streaming on Discovery+. With his distinctive storytelling style, lush photography, and a focus on our connected planet, Weir and his team produced four seasons of the show across 28 countries, highlighting wondrous people, places, cultures, and creatures on the brink of seismic change. His first book, Life As We Know It (Can Be) just recently came out and we are thrilled to have him on How to Talk to Kids about Anything!
Important Messages:
Global Exploration – I love politics and Hollywood, but I don’t want to consume both every day. My years at ABC News, where they would say, “Go check out China; stuff is happening in India,” were the greatest gift. Someone gave me an expense report, a card, and a passport and said, “Just go explore.” It blew my mind open. I would come back home with ideas from the happiest, healthiest, most sustainable communities. I met people who had just suffered disasters and started collecting these lessons. After the 2016 election, that show ended, and they created a climate desk. I thought, “This is the one beat that includes all the others.” Foreign policy, the economy, healthcare, shelter, and transportation all depend on a balanced ecosystem. We’ve lost that balance, and it’s an enormously important topic. We’re not talking about it nearly enough. The average person doesn’t understand the enormity of the challenges ahead or the possibilities already here for us to help fix this, prepare ourselves, and avoid the worst-case scenarios. That’s what I’m doing now.
Power of Stories – Well, it really started with questioning how we got into this mess. How did we break the sea and the sky? How did we create mass extinctions? It comes down to human wants and needs, largely informed by the stories we tell each other. For example, most of my life I was told that to express my love for someone, I should spend three months’ salary on a diamond because diamonds are forever and super rare. It turns out there are gigatons of diamonds on Earth, and it rains diamonds on other planets. Actually, the most precious substance in the galaxy is wood, as a tree. But try giving a wooden engagement ring and see how that goes. That’s the power of stories.
Maslow’s Hierarchy– I came across Abraham Maslow, who wrote this theory in 1943. He figured if we could sort out people’s wants and help fill their needs, then they could be the best they could be. We could create a peaceful, harmonious world. It’s pictured as a five-layer triangle, like a pyramid. The bottom layer is just the stuff that keeps you alive: air, water, proper temperature, sleep. If you don’t meet those needs, nothing else matters. Your security needs are level two: shelter, energy, information, and economy. These are where we build our gods, religions, and governments. It’s the stuff that goes away when I’m covering a hurricane or a fire. Then levels three and four are love needs because we’re social creatures, and esteem needs, where you want to be respected.
Self-Actualization – And if you meet those four layers, he theorized, then you could be the best you could possibly be. Self-actualization, he called it. So I structured it that way because when I was growing up, I took the bottom of my pyramid completely for granted. I moved around a lot, sort of lower middle class, but I never had to worry about where the next meal was coming from or the security of our structure, even if it was a mobile home, or where water came from. We don’t have that luxury anymore. My argument is that if we pay attention to those needs and help each other rally around communities around those basics, we’ll fill the love and esteem needs in ways that we can’t imagine, in ways that social media or shopping never could.
Ecological Literacy – I think it just starts with the very basics of ecological literacy: where does your water come from? What is tonight’s dinner? Where did it come from? Who made it? What did it take to catch, grow, or make it? Taking the children out into the natural world as often as possible to experience the wonder of a spider web, or a thunderstorm, and connecting them to those phenomena that are so easy to shut out in the modern world. We need to teach them that there is no “outside” and that you can no longer throw something away because there’s no “away” anymore. We’re all connected and affected by the same decisions that other people are making, depending on their age. I have a 4-year-old and a 20-year-old, a big spread between them.
Introducing ecology to kids: My 4-year-old is obsessed with wildlife, all animals. There are times when I’ve come back from stories covering the extinction of a species, and he’s holding a toy version of that species. He’s too young to understand the enormity of these issues, but over time, I introduce the idea that there used to be buffalo everywhere—in Florida, Maine, and across the entire country. People killed almost all of them, but they’re coming back. There used to be billions of birds in Florida with gorgeous plumes and feathers, and we almost killed all of them because of the fashion of women’s hats. Time and time again, people have made really bad decisions about our natural world. We’ve lost our connection with it, but if we’re careful, we can bring these things back.
Connecting with Nature: Nature wants to heal, and you have a role in that, a responsibility. It starts with just plugging kids into what’s your local water. Is it a river, a fishing hole, or the Atlantic Ocean? Then, over time, as they grow up, start to talk about what’s happening to those things and why, and what we can do about it. The best advice I ever got covering this beat came from Mr. Rogers, who said when he saw a scary event on TV, his mother would tell him, “Look for the helpers.” Yes, there are always helpers. Now I get to meet these folks, not only the ones rushing into disaster but also people in laboratories or venture funds who are trying to come up with a better way to save the air and the water that we all share.
Empowering Kids Amid Climate Disasters (Dr. Robyn): I remember reading that you wrote about Mr. Rogers, one of the major changes that we’ve seen and discussed in my own house. And I’ve also brought on today’s show, Good Morning America, when I’ve been on those, to discuss the climate disasters that have happened, especially things that have to do with weather, like hurricanes and fires. How do we discuss this with kids without scaring them completely? When I’m brought on to discuss this, it’s exactly how do we talk about this, but also what can we do? I often quote Mr. Rogers, just like you, and I’ll say, “Look for the helpers.” But kids also do best when they can be part of the solution. They can be the helpers. So don’t just look for the helpers. Look for the way that the kids can be helpers. What can they do to assist these other families and kids who’ve been displaced? What can we do going forward?
Act Locally, Empower Globally: I was raised with the environmental slogan of “think globally, act locally.” These days, if you think globally for too long, it’s depressing. It’s overwhelming. So I argue that that’s the time when it’s most imperative to act locally, to lean across the fence, connect with neighbors, and do these sorts of things. So if, like my little boy, he loves wildlife, there’s plenty of legislation that may come up and say, “You can write a letter to your congressman. You can call our congressman, and figure out who that person is.” If you’re concerned about a particular corporate brand harming your favorite animals, you can call them, you can write to them, you can complain. You can say, “What is your plan for this?” If your kid happens to latch on to the idea of melting polar ice caps, sea level rise, and polar bears, tailor whatever their interest is, and empower them both as a citizen and as a consumer who has a role in the community. Connecting with helpers is incredibly meaningful. When a kid comes up and says, “Thank you for helping us,” it seems minor, but those little connections writ large are the hope we have.
Supporting Wildlife Conservation (Dr. Robyn): There are plenty of charities working to save specific types of wildlife. If you have a child who’s particularly interested in a certain area, whether it’s animals in the sea, on land, or in the forest, there are specific charities doing work in that area that could use any help. They can use some of the money that they’re collecting through their allowance or through some of the jobs that they’re doing and put aside some money towards that so they can feel like they’re doing something to help.
Climate Change Impact: No place will be spared from the challenges of climate change. Regardless of where you live, whether it’s the extreme heat in Phoenix or unexpected heat domes in British Columbia, the effects are happening everywhere. Sea temperatures are rising significantly, which has massive effects globally. As a result, there will be a massive migration due to these changes, with some people forced to move by unnatural disasters. Many will experience a sense of loss and grief as the places they loved and grew up in undergo dramatic changes.
Adapting to Change: Talking about the adaptation process, cycling through Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s five stages of grief, was a helpful tool for me to process the emotions that come with environmental changes. Whether it’s witnessing your beach wash away in a single storm or experiencing a crop failure for the fourth summer in a row, these emotional challenges are prevalent, especially in rural communities. Self-care is vital, and community group therapy can aid in working through the psychology of it all. Considering how to keep ourselves healthy in this new environment is crucial. Exploring various tools, such as reflective paint on roofs and energy-efficient cooling systems, along with volunteering at cooling centers and checking in on vulnerable individuals during extreme heat, are steps we can take to mitigate the impact of environmental changes.
Confronting Carbon Godzilla: During an interview with a scientist fisherman on a dock in Maine, he described climate change as a “carbon Godzilla,” a monstrous entity comprising over a trillion tons of CO2 and methane. Initially, this ‘monster’ facilitated the construction of the modern world, but it has grown so large that it now threatens our ecosystems, including our fish and farms. We, as a species, must dismantle and bury it back underground where it originated. This metaphor prompts us to reflect on our daily choices: are we contributing to the growth of Carbon Godzilla or are we working to diminish it? It also challenges the big decision-makers, urging them to evaluate whether their business practices are exacerbating the problem. Kids have the power to confront these issues and challenge the status quo, cutting through adult politeness to demand accountability.
Turning Anxiety into Action: Greta Thunberg stands as a powerful example of how social media when used effectively, can drive substantial change. Her activism, coupled with the platform of Twitter, played a crucial role in catalyzing ambitious climate legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. This demonstrates the potential for individuals, particularly young activists, to translate their concerns into tangible action, whether through conversation, community engagement, or advocacy. Understanding one’s power to effect change fosters stronger, more resilient communities, essential for navigating the challenges of climate change. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, building trust in each other and in scientific knowledge emerges as a critical foundation for communities to withstand the impacts of environmental crises.
Building Hope Through Shared Stories: Once again, it’s about rallying around, and I guess there’s a great saying in mindfulness, which is “never suffer alone,” And looking for people who share the same concerns and connecting with them on that. The thing that gives me the most hope is the idea that we are made of stories. All our flags, borders, religions, and everything are just stories that we’ve agreed upon at the moment, but they’re under constant revision. So, to shift the conversation, especially for young teenagers, into a narrative where fast fashion is not cool because you’ve talked about the cost of that, that’s what it’s about.
The Power of Role Models: We celebrate certain celebrities for doing the right things, not just in entertaining us, but in how they model how to live on a planet in balance. Billy Eilish is a great example of that as a pop star right now, using their voice. But when it comes to big systematic change, we’re at the mercy of democracy. It’s far from perfect. But it matters so much more now to hold those bonds together and understand that elections have massive consequences around the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. And once they get older and are plugged into that world, you can see which policies work and which NGOs are doing the most good and moving the ball here and there.
Democracy’s Imperfections: When it comes to big systematic change, we’re at the mercy of democracy. It’s far from perfect, laughs. Especially now, it can make you want to go hide in a hole somewhere, that’s for sure. But it matters so much more now to hold those bonds together and understand that elections have massive consequences around the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. And once they get older and unplugged into that world, you can see which policies work and which NGOs are doing the most good and moving the ball here and there.
Shaping Young Careers: Some kids don’t want to engage with that at all. And that’s okay too. One of my most exciting, I tend to be pretty ambivalent or nondenominational or nonpartisan when it comes to policies. But the idea that excites me that’s just now picking up steam is the civilian climate core, which is for older young people who are ready to start their careers. But it’s based on an FDR program back in the thirties where during the Great Depression, they put a lot of people to work fixing trails out west in national parks or wherever you happen to be taking care of our air and land and water. And now the program is cranking up where kids can sign up and it’s a paid thing. It’s not a free internship or something like that, but the idea that the young people from Florida, Maine, and Texas can get together somewhere and restore wetlands. They’re doing amazing things on the LA River and Los Angeles bringing that ecosystem back to the point where an endangered bird was just spotted for the first time in generations.
Getting Outside Into Nature: I am a big advocate for getting outside into nature. There’s so much science now on even what, you know, the screens are doing to our kids’ eyeballs, because we are evolved to be looking through trees to survive. And even having kids outside doing homework is a big step forward. And then edible schoolyards where there are gardens, and if we’re plugged into these ideas at that level. I think when you’re pulling weeds in your edible schoolyard, as you get older as a high schooler, that leads to conversations about the farm bill in Congress, right? And who’s doing what, and what special interests are trying to undercut this because of their profit motives.
Climate Change: What Every Child Should Know: Two things I want every child to know about climate change: number one, the Goldilocks Earth that mommy and daddy grew up on is gone. We live on a different planet now, and we’re not sure how things work on this new one, and we’re figuring it out. But number two, there are so many exciting ideas that are cooking out there. You can look at everything in within your line of sight, wherever you happen to be. And there’s somebody somewhere who is figuring out a better way to make that in a way that’s better for the planet. And the tools that we have are shown in red and available.
Clean Energy Revolution: Shaping Our Future: For most of human history, we have just burned fuel because it was cheap and abundant, whether that was trees or dung, whales or kerosene or coal, and oil and gas. But now, for the first time in human history, the most abundant, cheapest forms of energy are solar plus storage and onshore wind. And so to let your kids know that you are going to grow up during the most exciting industrial revolution as people figure out how to take sun and wind and use it to make steel and build cities and do all the things carbon Godzilla used to do for us, we can do it better, cleaner, more abundantly, more sustainably.
Pluralistic Ignorance and Climate Awareness: There is something called pluralistic ignorance, which is a wrong perception of your country. Men and women. Yale did this big thing a couple of years ago, and asked average Americans to guess what, what is your average person driving down the road next to you? And they said, man, maybe 30 to 40% care. Actually, it’s 66 to 80. So you have allies. You think you’re outnumbered two to one. It’s the opposite. And you have allies you didn’t know you had. I do think that what I try to impart in this book is there is so much sort of climate denialism and political polarization around this topic. And it’s there by design, and it’s put there by the people who profit the most from this.
Bridge-Building Beyond Politics: The only way around that is to short circuit that division and connect with people who you probably know you don’t agree with politically, but you absolutely agree with over your favorite fishing hole, or your favorite hiking trail, or the farmland in your community. And if we can connect with people around the bottoms of our pyramids of needs in a nonpartisan way, if that drops off, you say, “Hey, did you hear the Oakland School district first in the country? They have 75 electric school buses that bring those kids to school on sunlight, no diesel fumes. And then at night they plug the school into the school buses as an energy source, and they light the classrooms after dark. Wouldn’t it be clueless? We had one of those.” Right. And so you haven’t mentioned the word climate change at all.
Notable Quotables:
“The average person doesn’t understand the enormity of the challenges ahead or the possibilities already here for us to help fix this (Climate Change), prepare ourselves, and avoid the worst-case scenarios.” – Bill Weir
“Human wants and needs are largely informed by the stories we tell each other.” – Bill Weir
“Time and time again, people have made really bad decisions about our natural world. We’ve lost our connection with it, but if we’re careful, we can bring these things back.” – Bill Weir
“Kids also do best when they can be part of the solution. They can be the helpers. So don’t just look for the helpers. Look for the way that the kids can be helpers.” – Dr. Robyn Silverman
“If you have a child who’s particularly interested in a certain area, whether it’s animals in the sea, on land, or in the forest, there are specific charities doing work in that area that could use any help.” – Dr. Robyn Silverman
“No place will be spared from the challenges of climate change. Regardless of where you live, the effects are happening everywhere.” – Bill Weir
“Self-care is earth care, and community group therapy is a great tool in terms of working through the psychology of it.” – Bill Weir
“We, as a species, have to chop [Carbon Godzilla] up and bury it back underground where it came from… Kids have an enormous power to confront people like that and cut through our adult politeness around these [issues].” – Bill Weir
“It’s about turning your anxiety into action, both in conversation and community and ultimately in just knowing your power to try to make it better.” – Bill Weir
“For the first time in human history, the most abundant, cheapest forms of energy are solar plus storage and onshore wind. We are going to grow up during the most exciting industrial revolution as people figure out how to take sun and wind and use it to make steel, build cities, and do all the things carbon Godzilla used to do for us.” – Bill Weir
“What is your average person driving down the road next to you? And they said, maybe 30 to 40% care. Actually, it’s 66 to 80. You have allies. You think you’re outnumbered two to one. It’s the opposite. And you have allies you didn’t know you had.” – Bill Weir
“The only way around that is to short circuit that division and connect with people who you probably know you don’t agree with politically, but you absolutely agree with over your favorite fishing hole or your favorite hiking trail or the farmland in your community.” – Bill Weir
Global Exploration – I love politics and Hollywood, but I don’t want to consume both every day. My years at ABC News, where they would say, “Go check out China; stuff is happening in India,” were the greatest gift. Someone gave me an expense report, a card, and a passport and said, “Just go explore.” It blew my mind open. I would come back home with ideas from the happiest, healthiest, most sustainable communities. I met people who had just suffered disasters and started collecting these lessons. After the 2016 election, that show ended, and they created a climate desk. I thought, “This is the one beat that includes all the others.” Foreign policy, the economy, healthcare, shelter, and transportation all depend on a balanced ecosystem. We’ve lost that balance, and it’s an enormously important topic. We’re not talking about it nearly enough. The average person doesn’t understand the enormity of the challenges ahead or the possibilities already here for us to help fix this, prepare ourselves, and avoid the worst-case scenarios. That’s what I’m doing now.
“Kids also do best when they can be part of the solution. They can be the helpers. So don’t just look for the helpers. Look for the way that the kids can be helpers.” – Dr. Robyn Silverman
“No place will be spared from the challenges of climate change. Regardless of where you live, the effects are happening everywhere.” – Bill Weir
