Campus Views: Waking up to new ideas
This past week I was invited to Seattle University to try my luck at competing for a scholarship. During this opportunity I was asked to write an impromptu essay on the question “How has America benefited from climate change and how should Americans sacrifice in order to lessen the impacts of climate change?”
Talk about a loaded question.
In the weeks leading up to this essay I was assigned reading material and was strongly encouraged to do outside research within the community. My quest led me to Steve Thompson, local conservationist and entrepreneur, who informed me of various local climate issues.
As our backyard national park’s glaciers slowly melt into a memory that we hope we will be able to describe to our grandchildren, climate change is playing a comparatively different role in the town of Whitefish.
Whitefish lies at the convergence of two opposing weather systems. In the skies above us, moist, warm, westerly winds collide with cold dry arctic winds, forming intense storm systems that give Whitefish Mountain its glory.
As the planet continues to warm, these collisions may become more extreme, giving Whitefish more snowy days that make us appear as “winners” in comparison with most of the West that is currently deprived of snow.
However, comparisons are often dangerous depictions of reality.
According to Steve, we should also expect more mid-winter thaws, more rain-on-snow events, and a shorter overall ski season. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that the mountain always opened by Thanksgiving.
I too, have been lulled into the powder day induced disengagement for what is actually happening in this area. As our climate struggles to adjust to the drastic increase of carbon in our atmosphere, I find myself creating a new normal on what to expect from winters in Whitefish.
My scholarship pursuit invited me to wake up a bit more. Life in our snow globe is precious and the quality of life here needs to be protected on every level. From how we speak to each other, to how we take personal responsibility for our carbon footprint, the how of being in Whitefish is important.
How am I personally responsible for a system that forms a negative feedback loop with the land we call home? How am I willing to sacrifice?
After barely scraping the surface of climate research pertaining to this area, I find that ignorance is no longer an option. I am in the process of sifting out impactful actions from the hypocritical proclamations of blaming others for the loss of a reliable climate.
Although I am not a lifetime local of Whitefish, I see how big changes can be made on small and personal levels in this small and personal town. And that, is pretty cool.
Sincere thanks to Steve Thompson.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
— Grace Kurtz is a senior at Whitefish High School