For three generations of one Fort Worth family, the effects of climate change are readily apparent. Christopher Gomez, 22, recalls talking to his grandmother about how their city’s typical weather has changed over their lifetimes. When his grandmother was young, she told him, the weather in Fort Worth “used to be amazing.” But now, there’s no escape from the nearly year-round heat.
Gomez himself hasn’t known Forth Worth as anything other than hot. “And it just feels like it is getting hotter,” he said. From his grandmother’s perspective, the climate—not just the day-to-day weather, but what’s considered normal in the region—used to be great and has now become bad. From Gomez’s perspective, the climate he has known since birth has always been bad and is getting even worse.
The obvious effects of climate change, as well as how Gomez has been affected personally, are partly what motivated him to join the nearby Dallas hub of the Sunrise Movement, a national network of young people organizing for climate action.
