I am so fortunate to call the beautiful city of San Diego my home. However, during May 2014 San Diego, California faced an eruption of 20 wildfires. These wildfires burned almost 30,000 acres and cost the city over $60 million dollars. Many of these fires were due to the impact of the high changing climate.
A study conducted by the college UCSD states that by 2050 San Diego sea levels will be 12-18 inches higher, the climate will be hotter and drier, will face a severe water shortage, wildfires will be more frequent and intense, will not be able to meet energy needs, native plant and animal species will be lost forever, and public health will be at risk, especially among the elderly and children (http://meteora.ucsd.edu). What is scary to think about is that there are still 35 years until 2050 but a majority of these climate-changing results have already begun. This website also explains that about 70 miles of beach will be lost which will overall affect the economy since San Diego relies so heavily on beach towns as a major source of revenue. But not only is climate change affecting the city of San Diego, but also the world.
The book Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Maslin discusses the current and future climate changing impacts that will affect the globe. The potential impacts the world could face include sea level rising, an increase of storms and floods, more heat waves and droughts, a growth in diseases, and loss of biodiversity and agriculture (Maslin 68). However, I think the biggest problem with climate change is that people hardly realize that it’s actually happening. After learning about the affects of climate change I have started to realize that it is a real thing and it is happening quickly. But does the rest of society?
Many people know of global warming but aren’t educated enough about it to truly understand what will actually happen to the Earth. Eventually people will start to realize the dangerous affects of climate change when their hometowns are damaged or their lives drastically change. Personally, I didn’t even realize how scary the changing climate really is until I did my research and discovered those horrible wild fires that cancelled school for a week was caused by climate change. I’m afraid that people won’t try to do anything to stop global warming until it’s too late. Global warming should be brought to people’s attention more through the news and radio and other sources so we have time to save our beloved Earth and natural resources. If these climate-changing impacts predicted actually do occur I truly don’t think the human race could survive. Without enough fresh water and food how could we? If society read short stories such as The Diary of an Interesting Year then I think people would be scared into preventing global warming. The Diary of an Interesting Year takes place in the year 2040 and people are having a hard time surviving because of the DDT infested water and the only food really left is canned food since all the farm lands have dried up. Society needs to realize that global warming is actually happening so we can all work together to try to stop it.
I am definitely able to understand your concern because I am from Southern California as well. Along with this, I also had the same outlook on global warming as you did before. I never really understood how it is already happening and how much it will really affect us. Hearing about the effects global warming has or could have on an area near me helped me to understand how serious the issue really is.
You raise an extremely interesting point about how many people will not see the immediate impact until their location itself is impacted in a major way. As one of the previous blog posts put it, many people have an ignorance is bliss way of looking at the issue. They see no impact to their immediate lives so they tend to disregard the issue. This is where I feel that the impact of literature is important. Like you stated with your example of “Diary of an Interesting Year” the short stories can be tremendous in educating and hopefully causing action. I believe the fact that this story takes place in 2040 is where the importance of this story lies. The fact that those atrocities could be occurring so soon is something that readers and society as a whole need to take into account.
You bring very good points up about the harmful and serious effects of global warming/climate change. I also believe that the more people that are educated on this topic, the better. But I also know that there are not a lot of individuals who care enough or realize how serious of an issue climate change is. I believe that you are absolutely right in your thought that if society would read short stories such as the ones we did in class, then they would definitely be frightened into putting a stop to climate change, or at least trying to.
Being from Southern California and simply a couple of hours away from San Diego, the facts you provided scared me, just as much as the Global Weirding website did. Its a scary thought that 2050 may be 35 years away, but really that isn’t much time at all to make a change. Our generation really has to step up to the plate, or else our generations to follow will suffer tremendously. The fact that most people are not willing to make a change to benefit our world is an even scarier thing, especially when the effects to follow in our near future are so damaging to not only local places, but everywhere in the world.
I agree that many people do not understand the extreme affects of global warming nor do some people believe it. Over the summer me and my friends were talking about global warming during lunch and almost all of them did not believe that global warming was happening or will ever happen. I agree that people need to be aware of this because it will start to destroy hometowns.
I am also a California resident, living more the area Malibu, but I agree that you can tell climate change has already affected our state. I remember when I was younger where I lived used to be full of green trees and mountains and the creek near my house would be full and roaring every winter. Now it is lucky enough to get two inches of water in it each year. I did not realize how much climate change is already affecting us now. When thinking of how to inspire people to change and educate them selves about climate change, I wonder if bringing it back to home for them would also change their mindsets. If every person read something about their hometown or where they are living in and the effects that climate change has on it I wonder if that would make spark their attention.