Title
Lee’s Climate Story
Name
Lee Ang
Place
Richmond, United States
How are you sensing climate change?
The heat has become overwhelming. Growing up the seasonal changes were clear, but now it’s just hot all year until the snow hits for three months. My mom and I always liked to go on walks down the driveway, sometimes walking her boyfriend’s dogs, just to go outside after dinner and enjoy the evening. In high school these evenings were cool, pleasant. When I moved back home from college during the pandemic, walking around outside was one of the only safe activities to do. But with the heat rising, the sun would beat down against the pavement and fry us. Some days I would have to go alone, because it was just too hot for my mom. I wish I could walk with her outside like we used to, but too often it’s just too hot. About a year ago we had gone outside to go bike riding. We brought enough water, but my mom’s body couldn’t take it, and she fell over in heat exhaustion. She had to find refuge in the shade of a bush in a parking lot, as her body fought against the heat. I wish I could enjoy our walks and go outside like we used to, but too often my mom has heat stroke in the hot sun, so we stay inside instead.
How do these changes make you feel?
It makes me feel sad and nostalgic that we can’t enjoy our walks like we used to. It makes me angry and frustrated that every subsequent summer will be the hottest summer of my life, while simultaneously being the coolest summer of my life so far as the next summer hits.
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