By Steven Cohen, Ph.D., Director of the M.S. in Sustainability Management program, School of Professional Studies
I am the lucky father of two daughters and the grandfather of four granddaughters: The daughters are in their thirties, the granddaughters include a nine-year-old, twin four-year-olds, and a one-year-old. I think a lot about the world they will inherit and how they will cope with the impacts of the crises and catastrophes they have seen and will experience as they grow up. I remember the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in my summer hometown of Long Beach, New York, and the families that had to temporarily and even permanently resettle. For young children, there was a sudden disruption to the safety and security of home, school, and friendships. When an adult is 50 years old, a year is 2% of their life and goes by rapidly. For a four-year-old child, a year is 25% of their life and represents a more significant element of their total life experience. In part for this reason and additionally for the ability of most adults to apply their life experiences to cope with crises, the impact of these disruptions is typically more profound for children than adults.
The technology of destruction from guns to drones to missiles to cyberwarfare continues to advance and threaten nations, communities, and children. That is a threat that is wholly human-made and presumably subject to human control. The impact of climate-accelerated extreme weather events is partially human-made but not subject to near-term human control. We can mitigate greenhouse gas production and build more resilient human settlements, but those are long-term remedies. Meanwhile, the number and destructive power of extreme weather events will continue to grow and, in the near term, is beyond our control.
Fortunately, Sesame Street, one of our great media institutions that for decades has helped children cope with complex and troubling issues, has answered the call and produced an episode dealing with the trauma of the impact of extreme weather events on children. As reported last week by David Gelles in the New York Times:
“No place is safe from climate change these days. Not even Sesame Street, where sunny days used to sweep the clouds away. On Monday, a fierce storm tore through the set of the 57-year-old children’s show, knocking over lampposts, blowing out windows and scattering debris around Oscar the Grouch’s trash can. The fictional cloudburst was part of a special episode, “Storm on Sesame Street,” created to help children make sense of the extreme weather that has become increasingly common across the world as the planet warms. In the show, viewable on Netflix and PBS Kids, Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Grover and Snuffleupagus prepare for an incoming storm, then assess the damage after the clouds clear…The special has been in the works for more than a year and came in response to the growing number of extreme weather events hitting the United States and other countries around the globe. The Sesame Street team was struck by the fact that children born in 2020 will experience up to seven times more extreme weather than children born in 1960…In the episode, as the storm bears down on Sesame Street, Elmo helps his father distribute food and water to neighbors, Snuffleupagus preaches the virtues of hugs, and Bert and Ernie offer shelter to a menagerie of barnyard animals. After the storm, Elmo and the gang survey the wreckage and plan recovery efforts.”
Sesame Street deserves praise for taking on this important issue and for highlighting the impact of climate change on children who must make sense of a world that often confuses adults. When discussing climate adaptation, we typically focus our attention on the economic impact of disasters and on the physical issues involved in developing a more resilient built environment. We pay less attention to the psychological and social impact of extreme weather events. Some have described the immediate impact on children as resembling post-traumatic stress disorder. Adults may also suffer psychological damage from the loss of a home and the loss of a known and secure community. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
“Disasters are stressful events that can cause significant harm to communities and families. After a disaster, children may develop symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health plays an important role in physical health, school performance, behavior, and long-term quality of life. It is important to keep children physically and mentally safe before, during, and after a disaster. An emergency can happen anywhere and at any time. It is important for parents to know what steps they can take to protect their family. Ensure that family members are ready and know what to do when emergencies happen. Emotional stress from a disaster can be more difficult for children because they: …Understand less about the situation…Feel less able to control events…Have less experience dealing with stressful situations…May not be able to communicate their feelings, such as fear or anxiety.”
I admit that these are not issues I have expertise in or have thought a great deal about. My focus has been on economics, politics, policy, and organizational capacity, as well as financing and building resilient infrastructure. But a generation growing up on a warming planet is clearly an issue that the Sesame Street team is thinking about. The great sadness of this is that the children watching Sesame Street are among the world’s safest and most secure children. For the most part, they do not face starvation, disease, warfare, and the grinding horror of extreme poverty. The uncertainty that my granddaughters face is now hardwired into the wealthiest nations, and while wealth provides a great deal of insulation from the worst impacts, no one is immune. The forest fires in California destroyed some of the most expensive homes in America. It was also a catastrophe for communities with far less wealth, but with strong bonds that will likely never return. Our initial attention is appropriately on first response. We then think about the physical reconstruction needed to remedy the destruction of homes and infrastructure. But along with those carrying out those difficult tasks, we now must add the care of the psychological and learning needs of victims, especially children.
The Sesame Street team are experts in teaching children, and they made, I believe, the appropriate decision to focus on the impacts rather than the causes of climate change. The Sesame approach was supported by outside experts, and in his Times piece, Gelles reported that:
“Harriet Shugarman, director of ClimateMama, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping parents communicate with children about climate change, said not addressing climate change directly was an appropriate choice by the episode’s creators. “We don’t have to name it for children that young,” she said. “There are children all over the U.S. right now who are experiencing flooding and fires and storms, and that show shows them that they can be empowered, and that it’s OK to feel fear and express that, too.”
The irony of this is that we have an administration in Washington that is determined to promote fossil fuels while discouraging renewables, led by a president who believes that climate change is a hoax and that policies to decarbonize are a corrupt scam. Here in the real and rapidly warming world, we have professionals trying to figure out a way to help children understand and cope with the growing number of extreme weather events. The psychological well-being of children can be damaged by catastrophe. That is not a hoax or a scam but a potential tragedy we must learn to address and overcome.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
The Columbia University M.S. in Sustainability Management program offered by the School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Climate School provides students cutting-edge policy and management tools they can use to help public and private organizations and governments address environmental impacts and risks, pollution control, and remediation to achieve sustainability. The program is customized for working professionals and is offered as both a full- and part-time course of study.
