Miller Worley Center encourages voters to consider climate change
While climate change has always been a prominent election issue, a series of devastating hurricanes in the southern United States this past month may place it at the forefront of some voters’ minds as they head to the polls this November. Climate action has become especially contentious in the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, which battered Florida and other nearby states between late September and early October. The Miller Worley Center for the Environment, Mount Holyoke College’s center for environmental leadership, has urged community members to address climate change by casting a ballot in the Nov. 5 general election.
World Wetlands Day 2023 calls attention to global wetland loss
Wetland restoration was the theme of World Wetlands Day 2023, as nearly 90 percent of wetlands worldwide have been damaged by human activity. Photo by Emma Quirk ‘26.
By Yuyang Wang ’24
Staff Writer
On Feb. 2, people from all around the world joined to celebrate the twenty-seventh World Wetlands Day. According to the official World Wetlands Day website, the theme of this year’s festival was “wetlands restoration.” This site contains statements from officials representing various institutions, such as the Convention on Wetlands, The International Union for Conservation of Nature and The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997, with the aim to increase people’s awareness of the importance of wetlands and encourage actions to protect them, notes the official website. Compared to other natural ecosystems such as forests and oceans, wetlands are often seen as less familiar and are unappreciated for their ecological value, an article from ClimateXChange said. As a result, World Wetlands Day plays an important role in making knowledge about wetlands more widespread as the ecosystems face extreme degradation, the official website said.
According to the EPA, wetlands can be categorized as either inland or coastal, as well as seasonal or permanent. Wetlands have many different forms including rivers, marshes, bogs, mangroves, mudflats, ponds, swamps, lagoons, lakes and floodplains. The Nature Conservancy explains that as an ecosystem, wetlands provide habitats for animals such as black-crowned night heron, Hine’s emerald dragonfly and American mink, as well as plants including purple pitcher plant and eastern skunk cabbage. Species living in wetlands play key roles in the world’s water, nitrogen and sulfur cycles. Moreover, current scientific research shows that because of its carbon storage function, wetlands can help ameliorate climate change.
Statistics from the World Wildlife Fund revealed that “[b]etween 300 million and 400 million people live close to and depend on wetlands.” For humans, wetlands can improve water quality, offer protection from floods and shoreline erosion and offer opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation. However, human effects on wetlands have historically been destructive, the WWF article said. According to National Geographic, overfishing has caused the biodiversity of wetlands to drop dramatically. Additionally, with industry development, factories built near wetlands cause pollution and harm plant and animal species by dumping toxic wastewater into the wetland.
Wetland conservation programs provide hope for restoring the health of wetlands around the world. For example, mangrove restoration programs have been created in seven biospheres of Latin America and the Caribbean led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. These programs aim to recover mangrove forests by bringing together scientific experts with local communities while creating new economic and educational opportunities. This collaborative method is one of the most effective ways to restore mangrove forests, the UNESCO website reported.
In addition to direct conservation actions, scientific literature on wetlands also plays an important role in raising people’s awareness. For instance, the book “Sippewissett, or, life on a salt marsh” by Tim Traver recalls the author’s personal experience at Sippewissett, a wetland located in the Northeast. In the book, Traver offers a detailed description of his connections with the wetlands, including his experience of witnessing their deterioration and recovery.
Although there has been an increase in action surrounding wetlands, people’s awareness and sense of urgency remain insufficient. According to Dr. Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, “to date, nearly 90 percent of the world’s wetlands have been degraded or lost. We are losing wetlands three times faster than forests.” Therefore, World Wetlands Day is an opportunity to encourage all relevant players to participate in the wetlands restoration process. “We are mobilizing an entire generation for wetland restoration,” Mumba said.
Tourist destinations introduce green fees
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the power dynamics that exist between countries with large tourism economies and the rest of the world. On Aug. 23, the governor of Hawai’i asked travelers to abstain from vacationing on the islands through the end of October in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. These concerns about the impacts of tourism extend also into an ethical debate about the negative effects that large influxes of tourists can have on local communities. As more attention is given to the roles and responsibilities tourists hold in protecting the health of vacation hot spot communities, there is also an opportunity to reflect on the environmental consequences of tourism.
2020 marks record high in environmental activist killings
‘Last Ice Area’ begins melting earlier than predicted
The image of melting Arctic ice has long been used to represent the future consequences of climate change. Despite this reputation, one region of the Arctic left scientists shocked when it began to show signs of melting. Scientists aboard an icebreaker in August 2020 were shocked when their satellites identified a route through a large glacier in the Wandel Sea.
Weekly Climate News
April 22, 2021
Alaska’s boreal forests have experienced extreme damage from wildfires, but the regrowth of deciduous trees is helping to sequester more carbon than before.
Climate change has been altering the monsoon season in India, which poses threatening concerns for both Asian countries and the world.
Dust plumes from Africa, like the recent “Godzilla” pushed by winds in June 2020 from the Sahara across the Atlantic to North America, will shrink significantly due to climate change.
U.S. President Joe Biden will announce on Earth Day that the United States will cut carbon emissions in half by the end of the decade.
The “Climate Clock” in New York City’s Union Square now shows an estimate of how much of the world’s energy comes from renewable resources.
A recent study found that air pollution in India is costing Indian businesses $95 billion every year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation from Biden for a virtual climate summit.
Springtime snow and unseasonably harsh frosts in Western Europe are connected to losses of Arctic sea ice.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haalandrevoked a slew of orders issued under the Trump administration, shifting away from policies in favor of the oil and gas industries.
Carbon footprint calculator focuses attention on personal responsibility
After its popularization in the 1990s by oil and gas company BP in a $250 million advertising campaign, the term “carbon footprint” has been heavily discussed, particularly around Earth Day. In 2004, as a response to BP’s campaign, the first carbon footprint calculator was invented. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency and others have released other carbon footprint calculators, promoting individual responsibility in reducing personal carbon footprints.