It’s been a summer of climate extremes—from record-breaking heat waves to deadly flash floods to a fire season that has seen a number of acres burned well above the 10-year average. Even Sesame Street, where sunny days once swept the clouds away, can’t seem to keep the storms at bay.
A new special, Storm on Sesame Street, which aired on Aug. 3, follows Elmo and friends as they work together to get ready for a big storm, and help rebuild in its aftermath. The episode was created to help kids better understand extreme weather as it becomes increasingly more frequent.
“Extreme weather is now a reality for many families, and young children need support they can understand and trust,” Joseph Giraldi, chief operating officer of Sesame Workshop, said in a press release. “With our Extreme Weather response initiative, we’re using the power of Sesame Street to help children prepare for what’s ahead, cope with big emotions during moments of disruption, and begin to recover afterward. From our new storm special to year‑round resources and community outreach, this initiative reflects our commitment to showing up for children and families when they need it most.”
The episode provides an opening for adults to help prepare kids about what to expect during an extreme weather event—before it actually happens. Elmo and his father help hand out food and water to their neighbors, talk through the big emotions the storm brings up, and find ways to help their friends when the storm leaves Sesame Street unrecognizable.
“It's really important, and I think it can fall off a lot of our radars to have emergency plans or to know what should be in an emergency kit,” says Samantha Harrington, director of audience experience for Yale Climate Connections. “People don't always make great decisions when they're in an emergency situation, or when they're stressed. So as much as you can make that decision-making earlier before the emergency happens, then you're going to be a lot better prepared to react and respond in a way that is going to be the safest and calmest for you and your child.”
Sesame Street first tackled extreme weather in the episode, Sesame Street Gets Through a Storm, which premiered in 2001 and featured Big Bird rebuilding his nest after it was destroyed in a hurricane. The episode re-aired in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.
In the years since, extreme weather events, fueled in no small part by climate change, have become hard for most Americans to ignore. There has been a “staggering rise” in climate-related disasters in the 21st century, according to the United Nations. Nearly one in five Americans have had to evacuate their homes due to extreme weather conditions, according to an October 2024 poll conducted by YouGov. Children born in 2020 are projected to experience up to seven times more extreme weather events than those born in 1960.
Sesame Street plans to provide resources to help families, including a printed and digital storybook, to help children heal when the things they love are lost, articles and activities that support children and families as they deal with environmental stressors like heat or air quality, and plans to distribute “go bags” with essentials to support families during evacuations and periods of displacement.
It’s an important first step in getting children and families more equipped for dealing with extreme weather events—which most Americans are woefully underprepared for. In one 2025 survey of 2,000 adults by Talker Research, 90% said it's critical to be prepared for extreme weather, but only 46% had an emergency plan in place.
The episode opens the channel of communication in an age appropriate way, experts say. “It's covering all of the bases,” says Adam Rainear, associate professor of communication and media at West Chester University, whose work focuses on climate communications. “It's giving the messaging so that kids are aware and alert, but also not making them afraid of everything around them.” While Elmo and his friend Abby acknowledge their fear, they focus on having courage—and when Elmo’s courage falters as the power goes out, his dad steps in to help with words of encouragement and an exercise to help calm him down.
Tina Grotzer, principal research scientist at Harvard University, who works at the intersection of climate change and education, hopes that any future episodes on the topic can be more explicit in drawing the connection between extreme weather and climate change, which is not mentioned in the episode.
“This is a generation of kids for whom extreme weather is becoming more and more common, and they have to somehow walk this balance of normalizing kids' experiences, but also helping kids to know that this is only the new normal in terms of recent times,” she says. “It may seem subtle, but if we talk about people all around the world engaging in actions, a lot of people together can make a difference. We can't change the weather we're getting today, but over time we can do things to care for Earth.”
Hence then, the article about sesame street has a new extreme weather episode here s what climate experts think was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Sesame Street Has A New Extreme Weather Episode. Here's What Climate Experts Think )
Also on site :
- A Sweet New Fall Find at Costco Is Giving Sur La Table Vibes
- Poppi's Brand-New Flavor Is the Perfect Fall Treat, Just in Time for Spooky Season
- India’s severe monsoon season causes more than 100 deaths since July