Anish Patel

Though we have seen a significant amount of rain in the last few weeks, possibly more than what we have seen in the last couple of years, it still is alarming that the drought and our ecosystem as a whole in California still remain in trouble. We still should continue and become more conscious when it comes to water usage. Some ideas that I have implemented include saving cold shower water while waiting for it to heat up, taking shorter showers (~5 min), and at my house back home, capturing water when it rains to water plants, and searching for more water-efficient appliances that my family can use. I am curious to hear from you all what methods you may take as well!

It is inspiring to see change championed by local leaders within our own communities, a sign that climate change may not have won just yet. I was able to experience some of this change again back home in the Bay Area where sustainable living has seemed to become more prominent. The city of San Francisco recently finished the construction of the Presidio Tunnel Tops Park by the famous Golden Gate Bridge and I was able to visit it over winter break. The park does a fantastic job of blending nature and functionality: jungle gyms made from fallen trees and other natural objects, large bench areas resembling whales/sea creatures, and the diverse presence of local fauna all make you feel more connected with nature. It is impressive to see such an urban city as San Francisco embrace these measures, especially considering how much wildlife surrounds it. The Salesforce Park located in the financial district of the city is another example of this, blending urbanism with natural life exceptionally well. Their diverse arrangement of greenery boasts 13 different ecosystems from all around the world as well as more than 15000 plants. I strongly recommend a visit if you are in the city, some of the plants I saw were incredible and almost alien-like.

On a more personal level, this class and from my own research have inspired me to pursue opportunities to give back to my community in a manner that embodies sustainability and a push toward a world better than its current state. Back in my hometown in the Bay Area, I have been part of a volunteer organization known as Our City Forest. Their mission statement reads: We believe in the POWER OF TREES to transform homes, communities and cities and the POWER OF PEOPLE to help us achieve this needed transformation. They accomplish this by planting and nurturing cities in urban areas, slowly transforming cities of concrete and pavement to one lusher with natural life. I hope to continue to work with them to push our planet to become a greener one.

A slightly more optimistic example of this that I had come across is that of the community of Wilmington in Long Beach. We all know of the prominence of Long Beach as the largest port in the US, but it is also a location with one of the highest concentrations of oil refineries in the world. As such, it is not surprising that the residents of Wilmington are continuously facing health troubles - a fact that seemed insane to be is that households in Wilmington report a cancer rate three times greater than the national average, and this is not to mention the other various health issues that they face. In the face of this, local residents have been working extremely hard for the government to acknowledge and reform these problems. Funds and programs have been created by local leaders to transition the community away from nonrenewable energy sources and towards cleaner energy. It is unacceptable that cities such as Los Angeles continue to rely on oil and other harmful resources for energy despite the immense health risk they pose as well as their negative impacts on the globe as a whole. It will be interesting and inspiring to follow this story years in the future, though we cannot overcome the health issues the community has and will continue to face, the individuals of Wilmington can and have been doing their part to ensure that we move away from this trend.

With the impact of climate change lives slowly becoming more and more prominent in our everyday lives, I decided to do further research about the effects of climate change on our local communities, specifically here in southern California. I came across the area of Salton Sea in Riverside which used to be a prominent tourist destination for lake activities and relaxation. However, around 1980, Salton Sea was deemed too toxic for these activities to continue. Water originally came to the lake from the Colorado River earlier in the century. However, decades of harmful farming practices, drought-like conditions, as well as other pollutants in the area caused the sea to dry up significantly and be contaminated by a variety of manmade toxins. Today, a sea that used to be full of fish and other wildlife is home to toxic algae and a plethora of other chemicals that prevent any sort of activity in the nearby vicinity. Furthermore, as the sea continues to dry up, winds distribute chemicals from the seabed throughout the greater area, affecting hundreds of thousands of individuals and worsening their health. This is a striking example of how a once beautiful gem of a tourist destination was destroyed due to harmful human practices and how the drastic changes scientists have long predicted about climate change and global warming are closer than they seem. Scary stuff.