January Newsletter: Sharing Gratitude & Excitement for 2024!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a memorable holiday season and a positive start to 2024. At Be the Change, we are energized and excited for the year ahead!
https://phys.org/news/2018-02-acid-oceans-dissolve-coral-reef.html
“Ocean acidification” sounds like a very straight forward and self-explanatory term right? Well, the process and implications of ocean acidification are a lot more complicated and profound. For generations, human activities have released too much carbon emissions, and these excessive carbon are being absorbed by Earth’s oceans. In nature, the carbon cycle is a natural process where the balance of carbon release and carbon absorption has sustained terrestrial ecosystems and marine ecosystems for a very long time. However, the excessive carbon particles in oceans are turning ocean water into a coercive and acidic environment that has become dangerous to calcifying organisms by making it difficult for these organisms to survive and build shells.
By now, you may wonder how exactly does ocean acidification affects me and you? The answer lies in the fact that everything on Earth, in particular all the food webs, whether they exist in water or on land, are interwoven and will affect one another. When calcifying organisms can no longer build shells or survive in the increasingly acidic ocean water, its predators, which are the bigger fishes or crabs and other marine species, will also have a hard time surviving due to lack of food abundance. Then, when these larger marine species are decreasing in population, even larger predators, such as the two-legged humans will also be affected because seafood contributes to a substantial part of some societies’ diet. From an ecological standpoint, the survival of lower food chain marine species will have a profound impact on ecosystems and food webs, and from an environmental standpoint, the carbon emissions from human activities are polluting marine environments and degrading biodiversity. In addition, human societies will experience the social and economic drawbacks of ocean acidification because we may need to implement moratoriums on fishing and shellfish industries.
https://www.mbari.org/climate-change/
Tie in with Student leadership for Change Program
The Ocean Acidification Action pack alerts students about the ocean acidification crisis. Students will learn that human activities have released too much carbon emissions, and these excessive carbon are being absorbed by Earth’s oceans. In nature, the carbon cycle is a natural process where the balance of carbon release and carbon absorption has sustained terrestrial ecosystems and marine ecosystems for a very long time. However, the excessive carbon particles in oceans are turning ocean water into a coercive and acidic environment that has become dangerous to calcifying organisms by making it difficult for these organisms to survive and build shells. The action pack outlines how the disruption of oceans’ pH balance will affect marine food webs and human’s fishing industry and economic well-being. It encourages students to reflect on the environmental, social, and economic consequences of excessive carbon emissions and ocean acidification. To help resolve this issue, the action pack offers many ideas on how individuals can partake in raising awareness and how they can help to reduce carbon emissions. Students can: research about their school’s dependence on fossil fuels, calculate the current carbon footprint of their household and identify areas that contribute the most carbon emissions, or encourage a friend to join them in reducing their CO2 impact on the ocean for 1 month. This action pack is a great resource for students to learn about ocean acidification and the importance of carbon emission reduction.
This video pairs with the blog post:
Latest posts
December 2023 Newsletter - ⛄‘Tis the season to celebrate at Be The Change!⛄
As 2023 comes to a close and school winds down for winter break, we’re taking a moment to reflect back over the past year. 2023 was a very regenerative time for BTCEA! We developed and delivered our Climate Action, Resilience, and Emotions (CARE) program in communities on the frontlines of wildfires in our province. And as an organization, we prioritized creating space to discuss what decolonization could look like both internally, and in our programming. Here are the highlights:
Oct 2023 Newsletter - Check out our mid-October climate-justice resources!
Hello,
An introduction from Communications Coordinator, Lucy Wicken
Dear Be The Change community,
As we approach mid-October, I’m reflecting on the changing seasons, from the warm and active days of summer to the cooler and quieter days of autumn. Personally, I’ve noticed a desire to slow down, take on fewer responsibilities, and stay inside where it’s cozy. Have you felt this way too?
As 21st century humans living in a world that operates under capitalism, white supremacy, and other oppressive systems, we can be made to feel guilt or shame about listening & responding to our needs. We are expected to maintain the same energy and productivity levels throughout the year, no matter how cold or dark the days are, how heavy world events feel, or how much we’re struggling in our personal lives.
This is where the concept of regenerative education comes in. Introduced to the BTCEA team by former staff member Jake, regenerative education calls on us to slow down and turn inward to consider our connection with the natural world. It asks us to examine the living systems that are breaking down due to violent human activity (such as fossil fuel extraction, destruction of Indigenous lands, and human-caused flooding and wildfires) and connect this breakdown with our own high levels of stress.
