• Age: 12 to 17
• Grade: 7 to 12

"The world is reaching the tipping point beyond which climate change may become irreversible. If this happens, we risk denying present and future generations the right to a healthy and sustainable planet --the whole of humanity stands to lose."
--Kofi Annan (1938-2018), former Secretary-General of the UN

Heatwaves. Floods. Wildfires. Damaging hurricanes. The weather seems to be getting worse these days. But is it just the weather, or is it the result of a rapidly changing climate? In Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change?, author Rachel Salt answers five key questions about climate change: What is climate change? What causes it? How do we know it's real? Does climate change cause extreme weather? And can we still prevent the worst impacts? Young readers are then taken on a global survey of recent weather disasters and learn how climate change can be linked to each one. Here are the locations that will be studied in this book:

• British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific Coast
• Germany and Central Europe
• The Third Pole (Hindu-Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya region).
• Texas, USA
• Mexico
• Ethiopia
• Australia

But it's not all doom and gloom. Salt also breaks down the key adaptations that need to be implemented to prevent widespread disaster as well as the broader changes we need to make at both individual and governmental levels to mitigate the worst effects of a changing climate. With illustrations, diagrams, photos and enlightening text, Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change? is essential reading for the next generation of climate champions.

Rachel Salt is an author and science communicator with a master's degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Guelph. Her first book The Plastic Problem was nominated for a Red Cedar Book Award, and her second book Your Plastic Footprint appeared on the 2021 edition of The List, a recommended selection of books for youth from the Toronto Public Library. Rachel lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with her husband and son.

Rachel Salt's profile page

This informative book answers the critical questions of, what climate change is, what causes it, and how we know it is real. In various locations around the world, young readers are shown evidence of disasters linked to climate change. Bold illustrations along with photos show the effects of extreme weather conditions. Factual sidebars reveal adaptations that are needed, as well as people who are trying to make a difference. This is a must-have guide for school and home libraries and will help readers young and old to understand and take action.

Calgary Herald

Need a book about climate change that explains what it is and why it is happening without sending readers into paroxysms of climate-related stress? Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change? Answers to Your Questions About Extreme Weather is the book for you ... Excellent photos and illustrations help make the information accessible to English as a Second Language learners and those in higher grades struggling with literacy. Highly recommended.

Canadian Review of Materials

This will be a fabulous book for teaching climate change, media literacy, and weather events. Whether a teaching resource for educators of social studies, geography or science, or a reference for students, Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change? will answer questions, spark enquiry, and perhaps inspire action. With accurate knowledge such as this, good change can happen.

CanLit for LittleCanadians

A dramatic opening view of 2018's Hurricane Florence as observed from the International Space Station sets the tone, and Salt goes on to make sure that young "climate champions" understand how extreme weather and the climate change it heralds are affecting much of the world right now. Following introductory notes on the differences between the two and how scientists can track long-term changes in climate, the author surveys ominous events in seven regions--from 122 degree F temperatures in British Columbia in June of 2021, followed by massive floods and landslides the following November, to Australia's "Black Summer" of 2019-20, in which an estimated three billion animals were killed in wildfires. Salt reports on the current "megadrought" in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, which has resulted in water shortages and forced changes in immigration patterns, and examines how ice melt at the "Third Pole" (the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges) led in 2022 to devastating floods and public health emergencies that affected millions in Pakistan. Inset profiles of active "champions," diverse in terms of race and culture, and remedial initiatives, many of them Indigenous-led activities, inject at least a few flickers of optimism, but the telling photos of dry lake beds, burned-out woodlands, flooded streets, and flattened buildings only underscore the message that we are in trouble...right now. Merits attention for its unusual angle and compelling sense of urgency.

Kirkus

Merits attention for its unusual angle and compelling sense of urgency.

Kirkus