When a woman gave birth in Philadelphia in April, she named her daughter Daffodil for the flowers that often bloomed during her birth month. As Daffodil grew, her namesake plant blossomed earlier and earlier — sometimes flowering well before April. It wasn’t long before the name no longer seemed to fit the timing of the girl’s birthday; her mother said five years from now, she might not associate daffodils with that month.

The story is one of many Bethany Wiggin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH), has heard through the My Climate Story initiative, a project that allows people in Philadelphia and across the globe to document their experiences with climate change. Since the program launched in late 2019, it has collected stories that recount the personal tolls of climate change, as well as the nostalgia, grief and anxiety that accompany changing neighborhoods, landscapes and shorelines.