How I started caring about Climate Change?

October 26, 2022

I started caring about the environment and climate change when a few things happened in my life:

  1. I had just moved to Vancouver, BC which takes environmental sustainability seriously. There is a tax on take away cups and paper bags; hardly any plastic is used and establishments are required to segregate waste into bins.
  2. I had recently gone on a whale watching tour in Victoria, BC – we didn’t spot any whales but upon returning, I formed a renewed sense of love for nature. The whale watching tour came right after I visited the Bateman Gallery which was Robert Bateman’s tribute to his passion – nature.
  3. Through therapy, I had begun to learn how to be aware of my emotions – I started realizing that throwing plastic away made me uncomfortable – I guess the knowledge that they would become part of a landfill really got to me.
  4. I took the IELTS Test and there was one question (I forget which) that talked about the carbon cycle and that got me thinking how the burning of fossil fuels seems unsustainable and unnatural…

And so I started learning more about climate change…

Sea Kelp by Race Rocks Lighthouse, extremely critical for environment conservation

I had help along the way like Laura (a friend I while traveling in Mexico City) who worked for NGO focused on environmental conservation – she made a very practical suggestion – to start following @worldeconomicforum on instagram! From there I followed a dozen other similar accounts, learning what are the efforts done to combat climate change. I’ve first got to know what is out there before I can decide what part to play.

I listened to climate change podcasts by TED Climate / Planet A & BBC’s The Climate Question, read novels like Migrations and The Ministry For The Future, and of course – YOUTUBE – anything climate related that piqued my interest.

Race Rocks Lighthouse – Victoria, BC

Finally, after much soul web searching thus far, I realized two things:

  1. There are so many voices out there talking about climate change and a ton of resources on how to combat – we just need more people to care about it more.
  2. The more I learn the less I know – there is still so much more I need to learn about sustainability – the solutions involve multi-disciplinary effort and coordination – from politics to the financial markets, from chemistry to food sciences, from manufacturing to artificial intelligence – and I hope to share more here as I find out more.

Daniel