Earth as seen in eyes of kids

BEIJING -- People may not expect to solicit scientific explanations from kids about the planet they all dwell on, but they may have to buckle up from time to time for scientifically shocking answers from kids to questions linked with the Earth.

“IT'S BECOMING HOTTER AND HOTTER”

When asked what to him the Earth is, 8-year-old Axel from Geneva said that it is a congregation of masses, with a very very hot core.

The answer already unplugs the cork for ooh's and aah's.

The Swiss kid said he had to like the planet because all had to live on it, to answer a follow-up of whether or not he likes the Earth.

“But it's getting hotter and hotter,” Axel protested.

Axel gave his explanation about the Earth while he was visiting an exhibition about the universe under the Eiffel Tower during a holiday.

And he knew this getting-hotter-and-hotter meant a rise of sea level.

“But I'm not afraid of this rising sea level, because we all one day can live in a big swimming pool.”

Further surprise came when Axel gave his idea on what human beings can do for the planet Earth.

“Stop pollution,” he said solemnly, “We can ride bicycles more.”

“IT'S WHERE WE LIVE”

Eight-year-old Razia was matter-of-fact when answering the question what the Earth is all about.

“The Earth is where we live with families, we get our food, we play with friends,” the Camerooni boy said in Yaounde, “Animals also live on the Earth, in places where we people do not go.”

But Razia complained about tree cutting in the forest.

When asked what environment he expected to live in the future, Razia did not ask for more. “Just a little bit better than Yaounde.”

Razia's comparison reasoning was simple -- Yaounde is better than the place where his grandpa and grandma live in the countryside. But he disliked the filthiness in the city.

“If Yaounde is cleaner; if rain water does not stream into our house; if we can grow what we like to eat, I wish the Earth is like Yaounde.”

“IT'S A HOME WITHOUT TYPHOONS”

To 10-year-old Nagere, the Earth should be a home without typhoons.

Taking refuge in a government-built makeshift shelter outside Manila, Nagere has still not quite got himself out of the rumbles and ruffles of Ketsana, a typhoon that affected 80 percent of the municipal area of Manila in September to leave thousands homeless.

“I wish to have a strong house and its roof does not leak,” said Nagere who immediately extended his wish to include “no flood from the river flowing in front of the house.”

The Filipino boy complained about the summer heat and humidity that prevented him and six other members of his family from going to sleep in the tight bungalow.

There is an unsaid wish in Nagere: a bigger house with an air conditioner on the Earth without typhoons.

IT'S WHAT KIDS INHERIT FROM ADULTS

Kids living everywhere on the Earth take the planet as their beloved homes.

But their shared home, the Earth, is being menaced by food security and drinking water problems, caused by global warming.

The facilitators of the United Nations Climate Change Summit held in September in its New York headquarters brought forth the questions from kids concerning the menace they face now and in the future.

Heads of state and government were given a tough question through video clips:

“Can our kids continue to live on the Earth if we run out of water and oil; if we rush fauna and flora into extinction; if we pollute air to extremes, and if we provoke more disasters?”

It is only naturally logic for the kids to ask adults:

“What on earth are we kids going to inherit from you adults on the Earth?”

(Source: Global News Day for Children)

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