Children and Climate Change
- FTFO
- Aug 3
- 1 min read
On July 31, 2026, The Tyee published a first-person article by Maggie Knight who lives in Vancouver. Her narrative of the challenges of raising children in the time of climate change, after fighting for 20 years to prevent where we are now, is a deeply moving story. Please read and share. "Be Careful You Don't Burn Yourself"
"My eldest was a year old during the 2021 heat dome that killed 619 people [perhaps more] in B.C. I viscerally remember trying to keep her cool in a big bucket of water while my partner went on an urgent mission to install an air conditioning unit at his 97-year-old grandfather’s care home.
It was 44 C outside. My child was so small.
I remember talking to my childhood best friend later that summer while my toddler played on a crispy lawn. I weighed the risks of going on a bucket-list family trip to Shuswap Lake with my terminally ill mother-in-law, worried about getting stuck on the road with fires on both sides.
“They’ll close the highway if it gets too close,” my father said. “You’ll be fine.”
We went. We bailed out early when the acrid smoke hit our lungs hard.
We left under ashy, orange skies."
is a cargo-biking mama of two with 20 years’ experience in climate justice, human rights and non-profit leadership.
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