This article examines the economic, social, and health-related problems that climate change is responsible for and it makes the case that climate change and human well-being should be considered simultaneously when crafting solutions for either.
Students will learn about heatwaves in Bangladesh that lead to economic instability and forced marriages, flooding in Malawi that leads to classroom disruptions that hold students back academically, and feasible solutions for addressing climate change, living standards, and human rights around the world.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article does a good job of showing the interdisciplinary nature of climate change and the huge burden of poverty for people all over the world, especially when responding to extreme weather events.
This article is well-sourced and packed with useful information.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should understand the link between climate change and extreme weather.
Students should understand the challenges that women and girls face in some cultures and regions with regard to equal rights, access to education, and the ability to equally participate in society.
Differentiation
Students could use this article to start a research project on the climate solutions mentioned in the article, such as agroforestry, women's rights, and reducing poverty.
This article could be utilized in a media literacy lesson on the importance of expertise and credible sources.
Younger students may need additional context or supplemental information about poverty, women's rights in other countries, and the costs of recovering from extreme weather events.
This article could augment a lesson on how climate change is impacting a wide array of decisions made by individuals, families, and communities.
Consider using this brief video about climate financing to complement the article.
Scientist Notes
This website discusses financing for climate change or improving human well-being. The article makes the case that there needs to be a fundamental shift in climate change financing that incorporates both human well-being and climate change. The financial shift needs to also incorporate the voices that often go unheard in the popular climate solutions dialogue. The article provides helpful links to additional information and websites to elaborate on the issue. This website would be a great addition to a classroom discussion about the inequality that occurs surrounding the financing and funding of climate change.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.1.9-12 Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
National Health Education Standards
Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
1.12.3 Analyze how environment and personal health are interrelated.
