Every week, our news channels fill with reports of overwhelming temperatures, rising sea levels and tropical storms on a scale never seen before. In June alone, the Arctic had its warmest summer on record and global sea ice levels dropped to their fourth-lowest ever. In San Diego, we have faced record-high temperatures in early October. In late August, students across campus suffered from heat stroke and heat exhaustion in their dorm rooms. Talk to any San Diegan and they will tell you — this is not normal.
If we continue along this same path, the San Diego we know and love will not look the same in 25 years. Experts predict that by 2050, sea levels will be 12-18 inches higher, our city will face a major water shortage and we will not be able to meet our energy needs. These recent weeks are further proof that hot weather and its implications are becoming the norm of our beautiful city. Imagine USD in 20 years: the Valley might not be hospitable without air conditioning
Everything about the condition of our planet is not normal. We have heard about it for years, whether in the pleas of new headlines or the clamoring of climate activists. What they have to say, in theory, should strike fear into our population.
The reefs are dying. The animals are going extinct. The forests are disappearing. These sentences seem like something straight out of a dystopian novel, but they are our reality.
This is something we’ve become desensitized to, which is why the majority of people will only ever read these headlines. Our politicians will continue to ignore them in favor of money or popularity. Everyone, except the brave few, think that someone else will come along and care enough to get into action.
But that’s just the thing. It shouldn’t be just a select group of people who fight for change. Global climate is just that — global. It affects all of us. Every mother, father, child and creature we care about all share this planet as a home. People should be taking to the streets, demanding a change. Rising global temperatures, extreme weather events and changing climates suggest that we are still heading toward a dark future, yet we have become complacent with the bad news.
So when does enough become enough? How bad will things have to be for us to realize the need for change? When will the fire of action finally be lit beneath us?
Ideally, that fire would be lit now. The problem many people face is not knowing where to start.
Here on campus, The Nonprofit Institute in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall has analyzed our campus’s yearly statistics for greenhouse gas emissions and found that the majority of it comes from vehicles and building energy use. To give a quick and easy example of how to combat this, even just turning off the lights when you leave the room can, over time, contribute to the downtrend of high energy usage.
There are also quite a few clubs dedicated to the effort. Groups like Engineers for a Sustainable World, Good Food Club and Sustainability Club are all examples of USD students trying to make a change. These groups, in their own ways, are dedicated to pushing that change we want to see. By participating in them or supporting them yourself, you can help make that change too.
Simple research will broaden your understanding of local communities’ efforts for change. From there, figuring out how to join in just requires some ingenuity and some courage.
Finding out about efforts for change isn’t the hard part. It’s making the change yourself and having those changes stick that is difficult.
It is easy to make the situation sound hopeless. These past weeks of fluctuating weather show that even in our own home, things are changing. Maybe parts of the situation are hopeless, and maybe that’s our fault. But there is so much opportunity for good, and the window for advancement and improvement in the way we treat our planet is anything but closed. There are so many opportunities to turn it around, if only we could say enough is enough and start that desperately needed change.
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