A Mother’s Desperate Calls
The mother peers into the frigid waters, searching and calling for her lost child. Yet she’s stranded, separated by disappearing shards of glaciers. Climate change doesn’t just destroy homes—it shatters families.
It’s May in Kenai Fjord, Alaska, where ice is supposed to cover the ocean, creating a sacred place—nearly unreachable to tourists but bursting with wildlife. However, as I paddle through the icy water in a kayak, tour boats after tour boats easily pass me. This increase in tourism due to climate change, opening up places like Kenai Fjord during essential times of winter, has created heavy concentrations of pollutants causing threatened species, such as the ringed seals, to be vulnerable to diseases. Additionally, as the seal's home on the ice disappears, many mothers struggle to feed, protect, nurse, and raise their pups. In the first image, I captured the desperation of a mother seal as she lifts her body from the remains of her home to look for her premature pup, now lost, unprepared, and susceptible to predators.
A year later, in the seemingly always scorching hot and humid climate of Texas, snow poured from the sky. Millions of Texans, including myself, spent days with no water and electricity, or even faced hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, or failure in medical equipment. Moreover, the lack of these amenities, closed shelters and inadequate communication technology made it difficult for unhoused individuals to locate safety. Even in my local neighborhood, I saw the struggle of my neighbors, not as young or resilient as my family, bones shivering as they scoop snow from their driveway. These sporadic changes in our environment also catalyze mental health issues by generating fear, socially isolating individuals, and chipping away at the sense of autonomy people may have over their life. It’s not just wildlife in Alaska whose world is transformed and destroyed by climate change. We humans too are affected. Our world is slipping away, and almost every home and community, from seals to humans, are encountering these adversities.
Though tragic, instances like these illustrate the desperation of life linked to climate change and the need to implement solutions. How can we do nothing when we already know that burning fossil fuels are the primary cause of global warming? How can we sit still when we already know solar power and renewable energy are some of the most promising sources of alternative energy? I propose that no matter what party, the United States should remain in the Paris Agreement and be an active participant in the United Nations Climate Change Conference. In addition, the price of carbon credit should be set so high that it fosters a faster transition to renewable, alternative energy and relevant stakeholders cannot afford to pollute, further enforcing progression towards stopping our climate crisis. The U.S. should be unified in cutting out fossil fuels entirely, for we have the power to set an impactful precedent for the rest of the world.
