By Jillian Baxter
Climate Dads, a group founded by a couple of Philadelphia fathers, has partnered with This Place Will Be Water to spread the word that rising sea levels won’t just affect coastal communities. Neighborhoods all over Philly – Port Richmond, Fishtown, Society Hill, and Southwest Philly, just to name a few- all face serious threats of flooding if the earth warms just 2ºC (3.7ºF).
Members of the group have placed biodegradable stickers that read ‘This Will Be Water’ at locations susceptible to flooding as global warming continues. Jason Sandman, Climate Dads co-founder, hopes to create a sort of ‘sticker shock.’ “This is a chance for people to stop and think ‘climate change is local, climate change is happening here’ and actually do something about it. Its a real chance for parents and fathers to think about what steps they need to take to stop climate change and adapt.”
With predictions that the earth could warm anywhere between 1.8°C and 4.0°C (3.2°F and 7.2° F) by the end of the century, Climate Dads hope the stickers inspire action by bringing the consequences of climate change straight to the neighborhood. “If we care about Philadelphia,” says co-founder Ben Block , “we need to take action now. If we don’t, we will soon start feeling the consequences.”
Sandman adds, “Dads in the community have reached out. People see that the things they walk by everyday- storefronts, mailboxes, churches, staples of their community- are all threatened if we fail to act. That sort of visual representation can lead to real tactile effort to mitigate climate change.”
Though it is based in Philadelphia, Climate Dads, is a nationwide campaign designed to connect like-minded parents in their effort to mitigate climate change. “Anyone can join,” says co-founder Ben Block, “Climate Dads is a base for people who want to get together to talk about climate change.”
The Climate Dads mission is to minimize climate change and adapt to protect their families from harm as threats of extreme weather, flooding, and disease become more certain. “The scariest part of climate change is the unknown- we don’t know what’s to come,” says Block, “If we can do anything to minimize the effects of climate change, we as parents have an obligation to do so.”