Seeing the World or Staying Home?

 

One of the most common topics for news articles today is climate change/global warming. This comes as no surprise as the average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century. This has been driven mainly by an increase in carbon dioxide emissions, coming from an increase in transportation by cars, planes, and boats, and human activities. Not only has the average temperature increased, but the ocean has warmed and risen, the ice sheets have shrunk, glacial retreat is occurring, and there is less snow cover. 

As the Earth's climate keeps changing due to human activities, many find themselves asking if they should stay home and try to decrease the rate at which global warming/climate change is occurring or if they should go out and see the world while they still can. However, there is no simple answer. Since many of the popular tourist destinations are considered "wildland-urban interface" (areas where housing and urban areas reaches wilderness) there are various challenges/issues with traveling there. One of the biggest issues posed by wildland-urban interface is an increase in wildfires. People who live or are visiting an urban area that is in contact with wilderness and are having bonfires/campfires pose a risk of starting a wildfire. In addition to the increase in temperature which causes drier conditions, the increase in campfires in wildland-urban interface causes a significant increase in wildfires, especially in places like California which are already prone to seasonal wildfires. 

Another challenge that is presented by wildland-urban interface is a decrease in species abundance, but a simultaneous increase in the abundance of species that thrive in urban areas. An increase in the abundance of species that thrive in urban areas means that more wildlife will be present in urban and suburban areas which could cause issues for residents (such as attacks, over-grazing, predation, etc). A decrease in species abundance would occur when the urban area starts to overtake the wildlife portion which results in less animals being present in the wilderness ecosystem.  

In order to solve the problem of the wildfires, creating a management system that prevents campfires and bonfires during particularly dry days/seasons. It is also important to make sure that if a campfire is happening, that it isn't happening near trees/dry brush and bushes that could easily catch on fire. This would mean that the campfires would need to occur more in the urban area rather than near the border where the urban and wilderness meet. 

In regards to either staying home or seeing the world, I think it is important to do a combination of both. While it is important to take care of the Earth and do everything we can to reduce global warming/climate change, it is also important to see the world and gain a greater global perspective. While it isn't good to continuously travel, especially by plane, traveling does enrich one's perspective and can be culturally and socially beneficial. Although it's important to reduce your carbon footprint, large corporations and companies have the biggest net carbon output and contribute the most greenhouse gas emission to global warming and climate change. So while it's important to make sure you carpool when you can, don't be afraid to travel the world and gain valuable life experiences (while leaving as little of a trace as possible). 

Sources: 

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/research/50-years-of-housing-growth-in-the-wui-in-california/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/travel/traveling-climate-change.html