Title
Rosa’s Climate Story
Name
Rosa deGuzman Williams
Place
Somerset, England BA5
How are you sensing climate change?
I used to live in England, famously known for its dreary, gray weather. Rainfall is common year round, but there are breaks in the summer for pleasant, warm, sunny weather. My summers were spent leisurely, in temperatures ranging from 18-23 degrees Celsius (64-75 degrees Fahrenheit). I remember playing croquet in my relative’s backyard, picking wineberries off the overgrown wall, and playing with the old dog. Those memories will forever give me a nostalgic feeling of careless happiness. Eventually, I moved back to Philadelphia during the summer of 2017. The heat was a shock to me. The air was heavy and humid, and I would sweat within minutes of being outside.
I returned to England last summer for the first time in four years. I was excited to go back; I was looking forward to indulging in those same activities that made me so happy as a young child. In the early month of June, however, England was facing record-high heat. I would later find out that later on in July, the temperatures would reach above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I was used to this heat, since this is what a typical Philadelphia summer felt like, but my relatives and the rest of England were not used to this excessive heat.
How do these changes make you feel?
It hurts me to learn that climate change is threatening to permanently change and take away places of fond memory, not just from me, but from people all over the world.
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