I can still picture the field behind my elementary school. My ten-year-old eyes saw infinite possibilities in that field every day at recess. Plants were scarce. The grass had been beat down by tiny feet over the years. Cars sped down the heavily trafficked road just a few feet away. Sometimes we might see some small birds or a squirrel, but much of the wonder of that field wasn’t actually there. It was all in my head. When my own imagination wasn’t enough, I turned to books and movies to fill in the gaps.
I remember our classroom had a big book of insects from across the world. One particular butterfly stuck out to me more than the rest. The Blue Morpho butterfly, only found in the tropical Amazon and nearby forests, was brilliantly blue, with wings that spread wider than my face. I imagined these beautiful butterflies fluttering around me while I played, but they never felt real. After all, I had seen unicorns and dragons in classroom books as well, but even as a kid, I understood I would never see these creatures in real life. This is how I felt about most of the encyclopedias. Books claim these things exist. They show you pictures of crazy bugs and huge animals. They tell you the world is big, wonderful, and diverse. But when the only thing you can see out of your small classroom window is a parking lot and an abandoned field, it’s hard for a kid to grasp just how much more of the world there really is.
Now that I am in Costa Rica, my whole perspective is changing. A blue morpho will flutter above my head casually while I walk to the cafeteria, just as big and beautiful as my childhood book described. I wake up to Capuchin monkeys outside my windows. Iguanas over a foot long block our sidewalks as they sunbathe. I feel like the things which once dwelled in my imagination are now coming to life right before my eyes. It’s spectacular.
The forest surrounding our research station is protected. It hasn’t had the chance to be paved over by passing cars. Little feet can’t trample over the wildlife. Here the planet is free to grow as it pleases, a luxury often not available in the states. But just because the land is protected does not mean it is untouched. Our actions, as Americans and world citizens, have consequences for communities and environments hundreds of miles away.
The planet has warmed on average a little over a degree since 1880. At a one degree Celsius increase, we are able to see a world-wide loss of biodiversity as species become extinct at exponential rates. We see habitat loss across the planet as species are unable to adapt to new temperatures and humans tear down more of their homes. The ozone layer becomes increasingly depleted as we release more and more carbon into the atmosphere, and the catastrophic positive feedback loop of global warming is triggered.
At the rate the human race is consuming, the planet will not stop warming anytime soon. I recommend everyone read Mark Lynas’s “Six Degrees,” which we used to guide a class discussion this week. We are a few years away from two degrees, where increased famine and disease will spread, and health crises like heat stroke will skyrocket in prominence. If our race continues business as usual, we are expected to reach three degrees by 2060. At three degrees of average global warming, our damage may be irreversible. The melting of the polar ice caps will release unprecedented levels of carbon and cause meters of sea level rise across the globe. At our present course, we’re expected to reach four degrees by 2100, at which point coastal cities will be underwater, the Sahara desert will reach into Spain, and habitable land will be shrinking rapidly. Migration, history’s solution to many human problems throughout time, will no longer be a viable option. There won’t be anywhere for people to go.
Four degrees isn’t the destination: it’s just one stop on the way to mass extinction. The four degree world will quickly spiral out of our control into five and six degrees. At five degrees, war, famine, and disease will eliminate most of the race. At sixth degrees, it is unlikely any human will be able to survive. If we don’t change pace now, this dystopian future may be closer than we think.
United States citizens need to take a moment to self-reflect. We have a geographical advantage that shields us from the consequences of our own actions. In Indiana, we may experience less snowfall in the winter, or hotter days in the summer, but for the most part the effects are manageable — for now. However, for people who live closer to the equator, their already intense environments are becoming more and more dangerous every year.
This week, while staying at a hotel in Quepos, we were hit by a tropical storm ranked at severity level four, which is very high. The rain water flooded into our hotel rooms and many people had to move rooms in the middle of the night as the water reached their bed. The entire cafeteria was flooded. The owner said the hotel has never flooded like this since she’s owned it. Our hotel was on the top of a hill. My heart went out for the inhabitants of the village below us. Many homes were devastated by the flood. While we had the privilege of packing up and leaving the next morning, that was not an option for many.
Historically impoverished nations are being hit the hardest by the Earth’s changes. However, they are not the ones who caused the issue. The United States, and other major world powers, profited off of the destruction of our home. Giant oil and coal companies, major consumer-based corporations, and society’s complete lack of care for the planet abused Mother Nature’s gifts. It would take five Earths to sustain Americans’ way of life. This is unacceptable.
We had the opportunity to speak with a few members from the Ngobe community, a group of indigenous people who live on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. One of the men expressed his people’s frustration with the “white people” who don’t respect their customs or way of life. He said the Ngobe people have always lived beside nature, taking care of the land and only taking what they need. He said he is tired of white people’s hypocrisy, lecturing the Ngobe on climate change when it’s the white people who destroyed the Earth in the first place. This sentiment rings true for minority and disadvantaged people across the world. The global north drained the planet as a path to prosperity. We need to use the resources we stole from the Earth to help those who drew the short end of the geographical stick. As a species, we share a collective goal, but the responsibility to act is not equal. As Americans, we need to stop pushing blame onto others, take action, and lead the world to a better future than our current trajectory.
Unfortunately, to change our fate, our government must enact real, institutional change. I am less than optimistic given our country’s emphasis on money and disregard for the planet. Sometimes, I think about the type of world my children will grow up in. I imagine sitting down with my daughter and flipping through the encyclopedia I once looked at as a kid. I imagine showing her the same Blue Morpho butterfly that I once marveled at. I wish I could tell her that one day she would be able to see that butterfly, just like I did. I wish I could tell her the world was big, wonderful, and diverse. But sadly, by the time I have kids old enough to goggle at the big creatures and strange bugs, a lot of these species will be gone. They will be no more real than the dragons or the unicorns. This horrible, apocalyptic premonition will soon become our reality if we do not take action now.
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