Coping with climate change

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Where do we see ourselves as parents and community members in, say, 50 years?

In one hopeful vision, development has been maintained at a sensible level, keeping traffic light and neighborhoods spacious. Riverdale Avenue and Broadway offer unique options for shopping and going out, not just chain stores. Years of activism have finally resulted in a pleasant and usable Hudson River shore.

No matter how optimistic we are about the future, any attempt at prognosticating must factor in realities about climate change. While we might take pride in fighting misguided development and working for the Hudson River Greenway, telling our children how we let climate change happen will be much harder, as a forthcoming film from local activists highlights.

To quickly review the facts: Average annual temperatures in the city are likely to increase by 4.1 to 5.7 degrees by the 2050s.  Mean annual precipitation is predicted to go up 4 to 11 percent by then. Sea levels around the city will increase 21 inches. All of that is according to a major 2015 report from the New York City Panel on Climate Change, which is co-chaired by a NASA researcher.

An extra 21 inches of water on Riverdale’s shore might threaten to make the Greenway a short-lived amenity — a frightening thought, indeed.

Riverdale’s Jessica Haller and Beth Haase are breaking new ground in looking at the psychological effects of climate change on children in particular. Their forthcoming film, “And Then The Climate Changed,” asks how to make kids concerned enough to take action on the global phenomenon without actually traumatizing them.

After interviewing leading climate change activists, the filmmakers concluded it is important for parents to demonstrate their commitment to saving the environment.

“Children who wake up 25 years from now and say, ‘What the heck did my parents do to this planet?’ are going to have a harder time psychologically than the ones who say, ‘I remember my mom or dad taking us to recycle or to [climate change] rallies,” Ms. Haller recently told The Press.

climate change, Hudson River Greenway, Jessica Haller, Beth Haase
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