As I write this, I am already back home in Indianapolis, comfortably sitting on my couch as Ted Lasso plays in the background, with the luxury to fully reflect on my time in Costa Rica. It’s hard to believe that just yesterday I was in Monte Verde with the entire group, all of us awake at 5:30 AM for a lovely breakfast that the staff were kind enough to prepare just for us. The cloud forest stretched for miles ahead, the sky clear as the sun began to warm the morning sky. I remember trying to breathe it in, live in the moment, and just appreciate it all – this entire trip was such a blessing, and I don’t want to forget any of it.
As I stared out into the cascading mountains that day, and looked around at all the lovely people I now have the privilege to call my friends, I was overwhelmed with a sense of purpose – to save all this, the nature that moves us to awe, and dedicate my time to combating the challenge of the century: climate change.
Just a few days before our last day in Costa Rica, we were at Palo Verde visiting yet another OTS research station. There, professor Wasserman gave us a rather pressing lecture on the nature of our current climate crisis, much of which stuck with me. As I learned, after being in El Niña for the past few years, we have finally entered El Niño, the warming phase of the oscillation periods. As professor Wasserman put it, El Niña had masked the real magnitude of climate change for the past few years, and finally we will feel it in El Niño. And as one of the directors of the research station had already told us, El Niño is already making itself visible, as the raining season was late by several weeks this year, and the rains are more scarce, heavier, and unpredictable. That, is a terrifying thought.
Further into the lecture, another unsettling fact. One of the key things we need to watch as this climate crisis continues is the carbon dioxide concentration within the air, as measured in parts per million (ppm). A million particles in the air is a lot, and it apparently does not take a terrible amount of carbon dioxide to set the planet off. Professor Wasserman has been coming to Costa Rica for a couple of decades now, and he mentioned that around when he first came/began research, the carbon dioxide concentration in the air was 390 ppm. Then, about six years ago, when he first taught this course, the carbon dioxide concentration had increased to 402-405 ppm. And now, it’s 425 ppm already. 450 ppm is apparently the tipping point. Within Professor Wasserman’s lifetime we’ve already increased so much, I can’t help but think we are dangerously close to this tipping point. It’s not a point of no return, but it will certainly be a different world where we’d be inundated with even more natural disasters and human migration due to climate, making addressing climate change that much harder.
Following the lecture, Professor Libby took over and we began our 6 Degrees discussion, which pressed further into a conceptual future of what would happen to the world at each degree increase. A single degree does not sound like much, but genuinely what can happen is terrifying. I was tasked with reading about 3 degrees, and one quote really stuck with me. As the reading stated, “the places that will experience the worst wipeout will be exactly those where today life flourishes in its most glorious abundance and diversity (page 177, Lunas).” I remember looking around after reading that, in shock and fear as I realized the beautiful, biodiversity tropical world I had the privilege to exist within would be the first place to go away. All the motmots, damselflies, howler monkeys, agoutis, more…gone? It broke my heart to think all this biodiversity would be the first to go; it would be a tragedy of the biggest proportions.
Given the lectures, and knowing how multifaceted and complex the issue of Climate Change is, I felt a slight sense of defeat. But then I remembered Trin and I’s research project, where we had the opportunity to meet and speak with locals on their values, and their hopes for conservation and environmental recovery in the future. We were able to sit down and speak with two Costa Ricans in-depth at the beginning of our study, and one theme from both of their conversations stuck with me, and that is this: the power of doing our part. In fact, we also heard the same story from others – like from our tour guide for the early morning bird tour in La Selva. At the end of our tour, he told us a story of a tiny hummingbird; the world was burning all around, and nothing but flames in sight. But, the little hummingbird was not hopeless – instead, he carried water, putting it onto the flames, doing his little part to put it out. The effort seems futile but it is not; in fact, his effort is a display of resilience. Fighting till the end is all we can do, and even though I am small and it all seems overwhelming at times, I am determined to do my part and fight forward. And if we each did that, together, who knows what we could accomplish?
Another little anecdote I wanted to share from Trin and I’s research. Again, we had the chance to go into town in Sarapiqui and speak with the locals, and I’d say one of our most memorable interactions was with a gentleman named Melvin. We had spoken to him briefly on our first day in town, but on the second day we were able to really have a conversation with him. He is a disabled man, who doesn’t have either of his legs, and he appears to be homeless. But what was clear was his fervor for life, kindness, and positivity. Despite everything, he told us how hopeful he was for the world to turn things around, and how blessed he was to be alive. He was by far the most positive person we talked to, and it makes a difference – he appeared to be one of the happiest people, too. I think optimism is a huge component to combating the climate crisis; if we slide into defeatism, we would only solidify the fate we so fear.
Also, Trin and I learned in our surveys that in general Costa Rican’s significantly rated themselves as having much higher hope than Americans. Even though Trin and I didn’t get to explore the nuances of this result, I have an inkling that this hope really matters – and going forward I know I’ll keep carrying hope in my heart, as it is the only thing that makes a solution possible at all.
As I come to the end of this blog post, I must mention that there is still so much more I learned from this experience. So much, and it is clear to me that this experience has changed me, and made me into a better person. Even with all the dreading facts about climate change, I am hopeful, and you bet I will not go out without a fight.
Thank you so much to the professors, they made this experience such an informative and meaningful one. And thank you to all the friends I made throughout this trip – sharing with them the passion to make this world better only makes me more hopeful for the future.
I can cry right now, I am just so grateful for everything.
Also, on a more personal note – shoutout to Trin for being an absolutely INCREDIBLE research partner and friend! And thank you to Kieran for being such a life force for the group and being a wonderful dance teacher. And much love to Miyako for always being so kind to save a seat for me, whether it be on a boat, a bus, or at a dinner table. And thank you to Lauren and Julia for running with me, it was so much fun running on the trails together at La Selva! And Edwin, too, for answering all of our curious questions about mathematics, physics, and the nature of the universe. You all mean so much to me, and I appreciate you so much you don’t even know – thank you for being such fabulous human beings :)) <3
Thank you, Costa Rica, and once again, pura vida :)))
Marinna
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