Climate Change Guide for Kids wins Rep. Brian Higgins’ 2022 Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 26th District

When asked what inspired the creation of Climate Change Guide for Kids, the student said, ”Climate Change is one of the world’s biggest problems and is worsening by the day. Since the Industrial Age, technology and inventions have led to an increase in the amount of greenhouse gasses released in the atmosphere, causing a rise in the average temperature of Earth. This has the potential for catastrophes, and people are already starting to see some of the negative effects. Even though this is a very important and urgent topic, I believe there is a lack of awareness. Most people, especially young people, don’t have sufficient knowledge about climate change. While some things are out of control for most people, there are actions and smarter choices that all people can take to help the environment. While doing research on this topic, I came to the conclusion that there is a lack of information directed towards and accessible by children and teenagers. It is essential for their younger generation to know about this problem. They are the future generation that will have to deal with the devastating consequences of climate change. Also, children are able to convince their parents and have a big influence on relatives, causing a greater awareness about this topic and research towards it. After conducting a survey among 150 kids in my middle school, I concluded that most kids don’t know what to do and how they can make a difference, while others are not aware of the problem and the consequences of their actions. The younger generation wants to help, but doesn’t know how. Therefore, I decided to create an app to educate the average middle or high schooler about how our actions are hurting our precious planet and how they can make smarter choices to help fix this overlooked problem. Children have to understand this topic so they can grow up making smart decisions and influencing others. For example, let’s assume that there is 75 million children in the US. If they each encouraged their family to take one less flight a year, that’s 137,250,000 tons of carbon a year in the United States alone being saved. With such a high upside, it is essential that people do what they can to help climate change, and educating children, the future generation, is a great way to do this.”