Students participated in a simulation of United Nations negotiations in which they attempted to mitigate the effects of climate change. — Photo by Shira Laucharoen

By Shira Laucharoen

The Center for Teen Empowerment hosted a screening of portions of Al Gore’s compelling and eloquent documentary An Inconvenient Truth on Thursday, April 26. The film showing was held at the Somerville Public Library through TE’s Library Leaders program as part of SustainaVille Week and was followed by a group activity.

In the segments that attendees watched, Gore enunciated the perils of global warming, communicating patterns observed in the atmosphere and the consequences that will occur if change is not enacted. An increase in the earth’s temperature takes place when carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases are released and trap solar radiation. Gore presented graphs demonstrating the correlation between emissions and heat, pointing out that carbon dioxide levels have spiked in recent years. As a result, glaciers and the ice atop mountains are melting, a fact that leads to Gore’s statement, “There is a message in this: it is worldwide.”

Community Facilitator Milla Maia emphasized that the movie’s narrative about climate change is an important one for young people to be hearing, as they will be impacted the most by this process.

Teen Empowerment held a viewing of the film “An Inconvenient Truth.” — Photo by Flickr user Kmar

“Young people often put issues like global warming on the back burner because it doesn’t directly affect them in ways they see,” said Maia. “Youth is one population that will be dealing with all of these issues later on but aren’t directly attached to it right now. They disregard it, but this [the screening] is one way to draw them back and show that it will affect them in the future.”

Following the screening, Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Somerville Hannah Payne led an exercise using a program called the World Climate Simulation, through which students participated in a role-play as United Nations committee members. They practiced negotiating terms including how much they would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, how much they would promote afforestation, and how much they would contribute to a global fund, taking into account the positions of their country blocs. The program calculated the effect these changes would have on the earth’s environment, as delegates sought to keep climate change below two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels globally.

“They are learning what climate change means on a global scale and the different roles different parts of the world need to play. They are understanding the context, that this is a big problem but one that can be solved if we work at it,” said Payne.

Teen Empowerment is an organization that aims to empower young adults to become agents of social change in their communities. As a response to drug usage, an increase in gangs, and a high suicide rate among youth, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone called for the formation of a Somerville branch, which opened in 2004. The Library Leaders program meets once a week and hosts an event every month.

“We’re not going to eliminate substance abuse, but you can make an impact on their lives and see change in the next generation coming up,” said Somerville Director Danny McLaughlin.