By Laurie Goering
Jan 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Some of the largest wildfires in Colorado’s history left atmospheric chemist Emily Fischer and her two young daughters breathing in smoke for nearly two months last year.
“It really rattled me,” the Colorado State University climate scientist admitted this week.
Like many mothers, she is increasingly worried about her children’s safety and future as global warming impacts worsen – and that has led her to join a new effort to harness maternal concern to propel lagging climate action.
“I’m hoping I can help shift the message from just, ‘kids are impacted by climate change’ to ‘your kids are impacted by climate change’,” Fischer told the online launch of the “Science Moms” campaign this week.
“To me, that’s really powerful,” she said, noting that – like most mothers – the children she worries most about are “the same kids making noise outside my office door right now”.
Fischer is one of the scientists and mothers featured in a multi-million-dollar online and television advertising campaign, launching this week, which aims to do what others have not: make climate change a personal battle for millions of Americans.
After Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week and tries to push forward an ambitious climate-change agenda – aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050 – winning greater public support for the action needed will be key, analysts say.
The Science Moms ads, backed by a coalition of foundations and other donors, will air initially in the U.S. Midwest, South and Southwest, and will eventually go national, backers said.
Most feature a climate scientist who is also a mother, describing her personal concerns about climate change and for her children.
“From the second you have a child, you want to do everything you can to protect them,” Fischer says in one of the ads, as home video footage shows her small girls learning to ski and ride bicycles.
“Our action on climate change is no different – it’s just an extension of being a mom,” she said.
