Climate Education
Can AI Make Climate Learning Smarter?
October 7, 2025
When we walk into a classroom today, humans are not the only teachers we’ll see. Instead, we might see AI helping kids with a tailored math lesson or a reading app picking stories based on each student’s level. Around the world, 86% of students use AI for their school work and 60% of teachers use AI technology as a learning tool to make lessons more engaging and personal. The modern age of technology is improving learning more than we could have ever imagined. This growing presence of AI is transforming how schools teach and how students learn, forcing educators to rethink traditional lessons and the skills students need for the future.
A New Kind of Classroom
Across the world, new AI curriculums are readying students for a digital future. In the United Arab Emirates, their curriculum spans seven key areas; beginning with foundational concepts, such as how AI functions and why data matters. It also includes understanding AI’s impact on society, where students explore how AI affects daily life, decision-making, and communities. The curriculum emphasizes real-world applications, preparing students to use AI to solve practical problems and get ready for the evolving workforce. With AI adoption on the rise—currently used daily by 78% of companies—understanding its impact is more critical than ever.
As this is uncharted territory, there are ethical concerns that come into play. In Georgia (U.S), a high school even teaches “AI ethics,” where students don’t just learn how AI works, they explore real questions like, “Can AI be biased?” or “What happens when technology makes decisions for people?”. AI isn’t just about technical skills, it’s also a gateway for students to explore some of the biggest questions of our time, including climate change.
Why Climate Learning Can’t Wait
Climate change is no longer a science lesson alone; it intrudes on the students’ everyday life. Hotter days, more intense storms, and disrupted seasonal patterns are part of their daily reality. In fact, about 400 million students globally experienced school closures between 2022 and 2024 due to extreme weather. Climate change is more than a phrase taught in class; it’s affecting schools.
And it is not just education buildings at risk; as a result of rising temperatures, jobs are being affected. It is now a necessity to have knowledge of how the climate will affect your work. Those with green skills are 29% more likely to be hired on LinkedIn than the average job seeker, regardless of the career. That is why studying climate cannot be an additional subject; it needs to be infused in all school subjects. This is where AI and climate lessons must work in tandem.
AI can make this learning a reality. AI can be used by students to view how sea-level rise will influence their communities or to monitor air quality in their region and gameplan how to ensure their well-being. How do we know? Because it already is. AI is already assisting students in modeling energy decisions(like when school lights or heaters are used) and their effect on the planet in several schools.
But for this learning to truly work, it can’t be just about numbers and statistics. It has to connect to people, culture, and real solutions. For instance, by teaching lessons based on Indigenous knowledge alongside modern skills like critical thinking and digital literacy, students have internalized the human side of climate change, allowing them to take meaningful action, and prepare for future careers in the green economy. In other words, combining AI tools with human-centered learning is what makes this approach effective and impactful.
Schools Prove What’s Possible
There are schools that are already illustrating what such a future could look like.
At Alpha School, a private school in Texas, Florida, and soon North Carolina and New York, students complete core subjects in only two hours each morning with the help of learning tools, while still scoring high SAT and MAP scores. This leaves afternoons focused on life skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving, along with hands-on projects. Students might monitor local weather, calculate energy use, or analyze school water consumption to find ways to reduce waste. These real-world projects let students apply lessons, build practical skills, and connect climate education to everyday life.
At Shenzhen Zhili Middle School in China, a Tsinghua University and UNESCO program is assisting students in learning about climate problems through AI across various subjects. Through interactive tools such as carbon footprint simulations and mock UN climate conventions, students combine science, technology, and social studies to learn about global challenges and take actual action in their own communities.
Seckinger High School in Georgia is incorporating AI skills into every subject: from science to civic leadership and even art. Also, as part of its AI pathway, students learn how to think carefully about the responsible use of AI and how their decisions can affect people and communities. They also get hands-on practice with tools like data analysis programs and AI simulations. These skills can be used in projects like assessing local flood risks or estimating a school’s carbon footprint.
Teaching Climate Smarter with AI
Using AI across all subjects helps students connect lessons to real-world challenges. To make this efficient learning possible, we have to get back to basics. Climate learning can’t just occur once weekly in science class. Math class, history class, art class, and language class can all be related to climate in manners that feel organic and interesting. With AI, teachers can make this integration easier and more engaging. For example, math lessons could analyze local weather data to teach statistics, history classes could explore how ancient civilizations adapted to environmental changes, and language classes could use AI tools to help with brainstorming, fact-checking, or even proofreading, while students craft their own essays or poems exploring their community’s connection to nature. By blending AI with everyday subjects, climate education feels more natural, practical, and inspiring.
However, teachers require assistance, training, time, and tools, to utilize AI with confidence and for good reason. In some settings, AI training comes in the form of short workshops or bootcamps where educators practice using tools like AI chatbots, lesson generators, or grading assistants to build familiarity. For example, the Microsoft Educator bootcamp teaches how to create lesson plans and quizzes using AI tools, while other programs partner with schools to build ongoing professional learning communities around AI in teaching.
And learning has to go outside the classroom as well. When students are in control of projects like tree planting, reducing waste, or auditing the energy use of their school, the lessons stick. It gets information into action, and gives students a feeling of hope and empowerment.
Hope in the Hands of Students
AI can make learning more personalized and innovative. But its true worth will lie in how we implement it. By combining AI with strong climate education, Indigenous knowledge, and project-based learning, we can prepare students not just for tomorrow’s careers but for the critical mission of creating a better world.
The tools are here. The next step is ours: to create classrooms where students don’t just learn about change, they lead it. If you’re wondering how to get started, please explore and utilize our freely accessible climate education resources, designed to help educators and communities put ideas into action.
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