Melting Polar Ice - What about Santa?

 

This week I started bedtime reading to our 6-year old son the book The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth by the Earthworks Group. The very first chapter discusses Climate Change and What Can Happen: "If the Earth's temperature gets hotter by just a few degrees, polar ice can melt, raising the level of the ocean and wiping out islands and coastal areas."

He immediately felt concern and his first response was, "If the North Pole is melting what's going to happen to Santa Claus?"

Well just about a month after Christmas he is still especially appreciative that Santa was good to him by getting his first skateboard. Meanwhile, his parents have insisted he be very cautious. 

Then we discussed the book section What's Going On: "Factories, electric power plants, and cars are putting too much of one of these gases -- carbon dioxide (CO2) -- into the air." So he asked, "Does our car cause the ice to melt?" We discussed how it is important to drive fuel efficient cars and avoid unnecessary trips, to turn off the lights, plant trees, recycle, etc. and he quickly feel asleep.