Discussions about health care have dominated the six previous nights of debates among the Democratic presidential candidates. Ahead of Wednesday night’s debate in Atlanta, we asked our readers what issue they most wanted the candidates to address, and why it mattered to them and their families.

One issue stood out: climate change.

About two-thirds of the more than 1,000 readers we heard from across the country said they wanted the next president to aggressively try to head off a climate catastrophe. These included young people grappling with the desire to grow a family ahead of a looming crisis, and grandparents fearful their youngest relatives would inherit a damaged world.

A middle schooler in Havertown, Pa., wrote simply: “I am young and want to live.”

In addition to the environment, readers cited health care costs, an economy that leaves many behind, gun control and student loan debt as the issues they most wanted the Democratic candidates to address.