There are 6.67 billion humans on planet earth; and 2.2 are between the ages of 0 an 18 years! These numbers came up in a recent planning session for a conference on climate change and children’s health. I was intrigued: What does or what will this mean? Thinking, as opposed to feeling, about these numbers, my reflection was eerily intellectual. I found myself trying to remember the formula on how to arrive at a percentage, and wondering how many of the 2.2 lived in the USA. As the conversation continued, my eyes wandered to a photo of my grandchildren sitting on my desk. There they were, ranging in age from 3 months to 10 years, all smiles, except for Riley, who with a pretty pink bow in her hair sat crying. It was at that moment that the numbers and the conversation began to breathe, and they took on a level of urgency that just moments ago was an abstraction. The most important people in my life are part of those 2.2 billion faces, and they, along with all the other children in the world, will not be excused from the consequences of climate change. …click here to read more
