By: Krusha Patel
I recently went to Washington in mid-June with my family, where we explored Seattle and then travelled to surrounding national parks, mountains, and waterfalls. On one of the trails in Mount St. Helens, I spotted a sign that explained the changes that the eruption of the volcano had on all kinds of life, but also mentioned how “humans can make changes that are catastrophic to life” (shown in the picture). A video documentary and a series of informative panels on the wall of the visitor centre nearby showed that Mount St. Helens’ explosion covered the entire sky with clouds of black smoke and destroyed a lot of life, from human life to that plants and animals. However, I marvelled at the beauty of the volcano’s destructive nature because it led to the rebirth of plant/animal life and the creation of new lakes and streams. After reading that sign, I became hyperaware of spotting these human-induced changes that can affect life.
We then went to Mt. Rainier, which is a very snow-covered, glacial mountain (pictured under the sign). I hiked up the hill some, but it was very difficult not having the proper footwear or equipment for the snow. My shoes kept sinking in; the snow was very loose and mushy. We travelled up and down the mountain in our car on the single-lane trails, which is when I noticed waterfalls and cute little streams of water running down the side of the mountainous rocks. I was experiencing in real-time the effects of climate change on these snow caps. Most of the waterfalls on the trail were birthed from the melting glacier caps, one of which can be seen in the right corner of my photo selection. This waterfall was gushing with such force at such a rapid rate, revealing just how fast the glaciers are melting. The water was beautiful nonetheless — very crisp, very clear, very cold.
Though this is just a small-scale example of what I experienced, it goes to show how quickly climate change is affecting everything, and ultimately life. That’s not to say that humans are solely causing climate change, but we are contributing, and there are ways to minimize that contribution.
Here are some ways to minimize your carbon footprint:
Composting
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Reducing plastic use
Changing your diet