I find myself having a discussion with my son about climate change on Earth.
This morning I was reading the news about how part of Earth's oceans are already at capacity with carbon dioxide. I find my husband at the kitchen table with the kids and fill him in on what I have just read.
I explain to him (and my son who is listening in) that scientists have discovered that the Southern Ocean is filled with carbon dioxide and can't accumulate any more. My son is learning about the continents in school so I have to explain to him that the Southern Ocean is the one that surrounds Antarctica. Researchers had not expected this to happen until about the year 2050, so their new finding they called "quite alarming".
Oceans are a carbon sink, which means they are one of the places on Earth that capture and store carbon dioxide. Plant life is another one. This is the reason you hear people telling you to plant a tree, because more trees means more carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. The Southern Ocean accounts for 15% of the carbon dioxide sink on Earth.
My son wants to know if the water down there is safe to drink. I explain to him that the concern is not with the water, it is with the carbon dioxide. If the carbon dioxide loses one of its places to go, it will instead build up in the atmosphere. I tell him how carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, like on Venus. It helps a lot that he already understands about Venus and its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere and scorching temperatures. He stops and thinks for a moment and says, "So it could be a hundred degrees?" Frankly, he is kind of excited about it, because he likes to watch the temperature and he has a fascination with large numbers. He already knows how much a googol is. (Although my daughter will challenge him and say that she knows a bigger number, and it's "infinity!")
Most of the dire warnings about what is to come with global warming happens around the year 2050 and after. Of course this is simply a nice round number that scientists have used to project into the future and see what the situation will be like then. In 2050 I will be an old lady, but my children will be in the prime of their lives. I tell them that they will have to deal with Earth getting hotter more than I will, because it will happen more squarely in their lifetimes.
But on two points I may be wrong. One is that the "warming" may occur faster than projected. In fact, most of the computer simulations have been programmed to be cautious, giving us middle-of-the-road predictions. Knowing that the Southern Ocean is already filled with carbon dioxide is another clue that the unpleasant future may be closer than it seems. Another is my worries that this will impact my children more than it will me. If it does happen when I am a senior citizen, I will be one of the population who is more at risk. The poor, children, senior citizens, and other people who have more trouble fending for themselves are the ones who usually bear the brunt of natural catastrophes (although using the term "natural" catastrophe here is a bit of a misnomer).
So my son is starting to understand global warming. It is caused by greenhouse gases such as those we see on Venus. Carbon dioxide, one of the main culprits, is being added to our atmosphere in increasing numbers due to both our uses of things such as automobiles and electricity, but also because other places (sinks) for carbon dioxide are becoming filled. The only place left for it is in the air.
And now you'll have to excuse me, because it's time to take my kids outside to water the new trees we recently planted. But first I have to put some sunscreen on them to protect their skin from our nearest star...
Visit this website to learn more about teaching climate change to children.
