For this entry in my blog, I wanted to zone in on a topic that carries so much importance both over the course of this trip and over the course of everyone’s lifetime. This topic is global climate change.
Over the course of the third week here in Costa Rica, the daily occurrences and discussions throw more fuel onto the fire which is the awareness of climate change. For example, during the a long drive to La Foresta, the class stopped to look at a crocodile that was resting on a small bank of sand in the middle of the river. While still definitely an impressive view, it was less than what was expected because usually there is more area to see these apex predators rest on. However, due to increasing extremes in rainfall it will be getting harder and harder to see these banks of land during certain times of the year. Of course, for these crocodiles this isn’t the end of the world as they can easily traverse an aquatic environment while still using the edges of the river. However, this concept of a changing physical environment is sure to be much more disastrous for species not as well equipped to deal with these pressures.
While many species are pressured from their habitats being altered from global climate change, there are also examples of increasing global temperatures being able to directly affect a species. This is especially true when considering my experience at Piro Research Station. Piro is located on the Osa Peninsula which is located on the southwest part of Costa Rica. The station is extremely close to the Pacific Ocean and the beach is used by sea turtle mothers to lay their eggs. Thanks to the Piro conservation team’s presentation, the class was able to learn tons of information about the difficulty of a baby sea turtle’s journey to adulthood. In fact, the chance to make it is only 1 in 1000 which highlights the importance of protecting the slim chance they have. However, increases in the temperature of a sea turtle egg can have profound effects on the sex of the hatched turtle. Specifically, the turtles that we discussed had an ideal incubation temperature of 31 degrees Celsius to get an even divide in male and female baby turtles. However, if the temperature increases by just 2 degrees, there will be a much higher chance of female babies which is harmful in the long run for the population of sea turtles (US Dep of Commerce 2017). With this in mind, it is obvious that rising global temperatures will be detrimental to the long term population of sea turtles and there are surely more species that will experience these negative consequences.
Before participating in this program in Costa Rica, I was troubled by the prospect of humans afflicting the wildlife with temperature changes which is the reason I wanted to conduct my research on primates. While at Piro, there was plenty of opportunity to study the behavior of spider, howler, squirrel, and capuchin monkey groups. With this opportunity, my partner Annetta and I were able to observe and record plenty of behavioral data with different temperatures. Although there is not much time left for data collection and there have been difficulties finding monkeys in Las Cruces, we believe that with time we would be able to come to some sort of conclusions regarding the connection between male and female monkeys and the growing temperatures. To me, half of the battle with fighting climate change is to get the human population aware of what is happening. It is frustrating to be so seemingly small in a world where there are solutions to protect the life around us. It is so obvious that these effects will not only be felt by animals, but eventually by humans too.
In consideration of the human felt effects of global climate change, there are many right now and more coming. As if the dangers presented to the biodiversity around humans was not frightening enough, it is obvious that anthropogenic climate change will destroy the lives of millions and eventually billions of people if business goes on as usual. Specifically, during our time at La Foresta a huge tropical storm hit the area that even had the local workers shocked as they had never experienced so much water just from one storm. Water quite literally dumped from the ceiling of the outdoor dining area and the sidewalks were flooded with water up to my shins. As an foreigner at this location I knew my safety as well as my belongings were never in peril, but that is the saddest part of the climate crisis. People and nations who have contributed the least to climate change who inevitably face the consequences more than those who have contributed the most. For example, a multinational corporation in the United States may emit an obscene amount of carbon and feel the consequences at all until much later because of the resources available in that position. However, an indigenous person in Costa Rica may have their home devastated by extreme rain and floods that destroys everything they have by that same carbon produced by someone else. I can’t help but feel it is a huge injustice that some people without adequate resources must suffer from the decisions of wealthy company owners who will never feel the wrath of what they choose to do. This thought really came to light during the talk with the Ngobe people. I acknowledge that people want to act in their self interest, but there is a point where it goes too far and individuals must be held to a higher standard than what is currently the case.
While I would much prefer to conclude on a positive note, it is difficult to do so with so much on my mind in terms of my own future and the future of everyone close to me. We are so dangerously close to reaching a certain point in temperature increase that we as humanity will not be able to come back from. As Mark Lynas says in his book Six Degrees, there are clear repercussions that will be faced with each Celsius degree increase in global temperature. To be concise, once the temperature increases by 2 small degrees, he predicts that major coastlines will be drastically different with many major cities such as Manhattan, Miami, London, Bangkok, and Shanghai being flooded. A gigantic percentage of the population (50%) would have to relocate, and this does not even consider the massive amount of animal species that would go extinct during the process (Lynas 2007). My understanding of what is going to happen is not perfect and I do not know exactly how things are going to go throughout the years. No one does but that is part of the fear. There is fear and uncertainty that is building and building as this problem grows. Something must be done and it must be done soon.
Bibliography
Lynas, M. (2007). Six Degrees. Fourth Estate Ltd. Publishers.
US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2017, April 21). What causes a sea turtle to be born male or female? NOAA’s National Ocean Service. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/temperature-dependent.html
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