Title
John’s Climate Story
Name
John Good
Place
Los Angeles County, CA 90275
How are you sensing climate change?
I had the experience to grow up in the South Bay of California, on the coast of Los Angeles. With the beach being my backyard, I have seen large populations of species completely disappear. There was a particular cove that I frequented when I was younger, called Abalone Cove. This was once a flourishing ecosystem, one filled with kelp beds and precious, indigenous abalone. My hometown, Rancho Palos Verdes, slowly grew in population and size until there was a movie filmed showing the sights and outdoor activities it has to offer. We saw an explosion of tourism and increase of annual visitors, this ultimately brought more attention to our favorite spot, Abalone Cove. Over the span of two years, I saw this cove rapidly decay, until there were no kelp or abalone left.
How do these changes make you feel?
These changes make me sick when I think about them. The city tried their best to mitigate the amount of damage that people were doing to nature reserves and public areas like Abalone Cove, but it wasn’t enough. I think that’s the worst part about this, I saw what was going on but I couldn’t do anything about it. I grew up to build a strong relationship with the ocean, and it’s frustrating knowing that if I was a little older or had a little more power I maybe could have stopped it. Im glad there is a platform like this for people to share their stories, it’s important to keep growing the awareness for the massive problem that is climate change. Overfishing and tourism essentially brought this secret little spot to its death bed, and it is ultimately what led me in the direction of choosing Environmental Studies as my major. Thinking ethically towards our environment is something that has been lost in the past few decades, and it’s important that we get back to this sort of thinking.
Collection
Citation
Los Angeles County, CA 90275
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