Originally published on the 19th
On Labor Day 2022, Amy Dishion received a phone call that changed her life: Her husband had died of heatstroke.
“My whole life fell apart,” Desian said. “I lost my best friend and the father of my children.”
They moved to Phoenix as her husband, Evan, pursued residency training in neurology. Just a few months ago, Dishian gave birth to their daughter, Chloe.
Their lives as a young family were gradually falling into place until that fateful morning in September when Evan, then 32, set out for a hike with a few of his friends. They set out early in the morning, but they didn't expect the temperature to rise so quickly. Her husband eventually began to show signs of heat exhaustion and passed out. His friends left him under a tree while they went to find cell service for help.
In many ways, Diceion said, the tragedy was avoidable. Friends hiked in sweltering heat, without enough water, and failed to turn around when they should have. But she noted that high temperatures are also a growing risk each summer due to the climate crisis. More and more people are unaware of the dangers of extreme weather, even though it is becoming more deadly every year. This year, Phoenix broke its record with 113 consecutive days with temperatures above 100 degrees, surpassing the previous city record of 76 days set in 1993.
The hot weather isn't just affecting Dishion's husband. As a young mother, it also put her in financial straits. She had planned to be a stay-at-home mom and began supporting Alvin. Suddenly, she had no income and had to move back to her hometown of Salem, Oregon, to live with Alvin's family.
“It feels like being displaced and losing someone in a completely avoidable way,” she said.
Now she's speaking out through a group called Extreme Weather Survivors, which raises awareness of the toll of climate change. She's not the only one sharing her story. Shauntá Floyd, of Houston, lost power for a week when Hurricane Beryl hit in July. Beryl was initially forecast as a tropical storm, but ended up making landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane. Floyd spent a night in a stuffy home without any air conditioning before evacuating to his cousin's house. Millions of people lost power in the storm.
And Rhiannan Ortiz, who is in her third trimester and lives in Phoenix without air conditioning. She worried about her health and that of her baby; pregnant women are considered vulnerable to extreme heat, which research shows is linked to a higher risk of premature birth and low birth weight.
Recently, Extreme Weather Survivors teamed up with two other organizations, the nonpartisan advocacy group Science Moms and the disaster relief organization All Hands, to launch a new campaign called Human Action. Ortiz was one of five other climate survivors at the event calling attention to what they called “unnatural disasters.”
Their aim is to make clear that the link between climate change and escalating disasters is not an “act of God” or something beyond human control, but is increasingly attributable to global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels.
“We want to say it bluntly, unnatural disasters and extreme weather are human actions, our actions. Due to fossil fuel burning and pollution, unnatural disasters are increasingly serious and destructive and impact everyone we know. .Russell) said.
The campaign runs ads featuring people affected by climate disaster across social media, broadcast television, streaming services and other digital platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. It's all part of a messaging strategy led by the Potential Energy Coalition, a marketing firm working to get more people to care about climate change. Suburban women are an important area of focus. Science Mom was created as a way to reach them.
The company conducted its own focus groups and worked with the site's publisher, the Yale Climate Change Communication Program, to gain insights into the campaign strategy. Research has found that mothers with moderate political views are a key group who can take action against the climate crisis if they understand its urgency.
“Studies show that women are more easily persuaded than our wonderful husbands, brothers and friends… [who] Once they decide to join Team Anti-Climate, it's hard to get them to change their mind,” Russell said. “Women, on the other hand, do tend to change their minds when the need arises.”
Potential Energy found they could achieve this by focusing their information on “non-natural disasters.” According to a report they released in June, they found that the word increased support for climate action among suburban women by 8.8 percentage points overall. For Democratic women, the number is even higher, at 10 points. For Republican women, support increased by 7 points.
Potential Energy has also found that focusing on personal experience can also help increase support for climate action. That's why women like Floyd share their stories with survivors of extreme weather.
“Texas' argument is that climate change doesn't exist,” Floyd said. Her goal is to raise awareness of the link between climate and carbon emissions, especially in fossil fuel-loving countries. “This is a global issue that needs to be highlighted so that we can reduce our carbon footprint and make changes to balance what is already happening.”
Dishion, who spoke alongside Floyd at New York's Climate Week, said that in addition to being able to educate others on how to prevent deaths like her husband's, she is motivated by the prospect of protecting her children's futures.
“I want a safe world for my children, for all of our children, for all of our children who, through no fault of their own, have inherited a huge problem,” she said. “I want that world to be a safe place for the people on this planet. The people who grew up live there.”
Stories like Dishion’s have the potential to cut across political divides on the topic of climate change. Other organizations, such as Moms Clean Air Force or Moms Demand Action, are also exploring this strategy—using mothers as an organizing force can deliver a more nonpartisan message by focusing on the health and safety of children.
“Moms are the way we think we can join forces with other sisters and raise our kids in the trenches, doing homework at the kitchen table and paying the bills while thinking about what we can do to make our own lives better. Better.
“I think, really, the goal is that this conversation should be as American as apple pie,” she continued. “This is not political. This is about all of us.
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