Millions of STEM careers

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Because of the significant (and growing) commitments to clean energy by China, the European Union, most U.S. states, and many other countries, the transition has been jumpstarted. Investment in clean energy is already a few hundred billion dollars a year, and over the next decade or so it should hit $1 trillion or year, and then double again in the next decade or two after that.

Therefore, there will be a great need for engineers and researchers and entrepreneurs of all type. Most of these look like careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). There will be a great need for people with specific expertise in solar power and wind power, energy storage, electric cars, and energy efficiency in every sector, from buildings, to industry, to transportation.

These projects will need financing and legal contracts and the like. Many will need architects and urban planners. Thus, simply being well-schooled and experienced in, say, sustainable architecture or green financing will be valuable.

Although the low-carbon transition is now irreversible and accelerating, it is still is a long way from stopping catastrophic warming, let alone stopping dangerous warming. Thus, there will be similarly large investments made in critical aspects of adaptation.

Providing food (and water) for 9 billion or more people by mid-century in a world of rapid climate change is going to be the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. Therefore, we will need experts in sustainable agriculture, marine biology, agronomy, hydrology, and on and on.

The combination of ever-rising seas and storm surges means that all of our major coastal areas that are not abandoned will need to be protected. Thus, the sea wall and levee business will boom. Because we are looking at a rate of sea-level rise that could approach one foot a decade by century’s end, ports and other key coastal infrastructure will have to be completely re-imagined. It is going to get hot, so the air conditioning business will boom.

You and/or your children should learn as much as they can about climate science and climate solutions, while figuring out what type of career area you’re interested in and have talent for (i.e., science, engineering, law, design, medicine and health care, media, and so on).

Then, try to find the intersection of those two areas. For example, a doctor could become an expert in tropical diseases, since many are not going to be purely tropical anymore, or she could become an expert in heat-related illnesses. Moreover, a doctor could go into urology, since a hotter world means more dehydration and more kidney stones.

The point is, the entire world is going to be transformed in ways both easy and hard to imagine. So the more you know, and the more you apply your imagination to what you know, the more employable and adaptable you will be.

Science Moms can help you get your children on the path to success by providing the tools and resources you need to foster a deep understanding of climate change and the challenges that lie ahead.

Together, we can build a cleaner, safer future for our kids while steering them down a highly employable path. Go here to learn how you can be part of the solution and stand with Science Moms!

This article was produced and distributed in partnership with Potential Energy Coalition in support of the Science Moms.