Only 15 Percent of Americans Think Climate Change Will Cause Them Significant Personal Harm

My life has been throttled by climate change all year.

In the spring, a strong F3 tornado touched down minutes away from our house and proceeded to destroy half the town.

It passed right overhead.

We got lucky.

After that, we lived through a heat dome. My daughter’s school canceled outdoor activities for a week. Temperatures continued creeping up well into the 100s while we went out of town, killing everything in our garden despite our best efforts to keep it covered and watered. During our trip, we got trapped in wildfire smoke — some of the worst air quality in the world. It was so thick you could see it floating over the mountains. I spent an afternoon curled into a ball, weak and nauseated.

I wound up having to wear an N95 mask indoors.

The air quality index where we were staying officially reached “unhealthy” levels that day. Later, I read that the smoke probably contained toxic chemicals like benzine. As someone who grew up around smokers, I’m in the sensitive group who feels it first.