Finding Hope Amid Discouraging News

A hurricane hits Southern California, the ocean off the coast of Florida is literally a hot tub, and wildfires continue to break records none of us want to be broken. It would be easy to get discouraged. But then I learn about the Los Cerritos restoration, our mountain yellow-legged frog headstarting efforts, sunflower starfish breeding efforts, the now well-established giant sea bass spawning and release programs, white abalone releases into the wild, and the sour taste of discouragement is washed away. The stories of conservation action shared in this edition of Pacific Currents is just a small sample of Aquarium, community, and global volunteer efforts.

We have read about our oceans under a plastics siege, species going extinct, and what I can only call a deranged climate system. Things are urgent. I personally feel the happy-speak about renewable energy, the upsurge in sales of electric vehicles, and sustainability plans at virtually every major institution give us too much comfort. Emissions are still rising and species are still being lost…forever.

But then I encounter the impatience of Gen Z and the passion of my colleagues at the Aquarium, and I take hope. Two scientific truisms stand out: 1) because climate change is accelerating, our efforts to curb emissions also need to accelerate, and 2) nature is resilient and our efforts to restore imperiled species and damaged ecosystems can succeed.

To simplify: we are not doing enough, we can do more, and none of us can afford to leave it up to others, or to the federal government, or to Silicon Valley to solve our planetary environmental crisis. Decarbonizing the economy is a major social and economic overhaul that will be painful. If we do so fast enough, our oceans and the planet can rebound and thrive.

Often when I give public talks, someone in the audiences asks, “what can I do?” So many things. Volunteer for a local nonprofit that works on conservation and habitat restoration or that is concerned about making sure the transition away from fossil fuels does not leave less privileged sectors of society behind. Talk about climate change — to everyone. The more we talk about climate change, the more we will realize and be invigorated by the fact we are not alone in our concerns and others are there to join us. Technology by itself will not save us. Individual life-style choices by themselves will not save us. Corporate pledges for zero emissions by themselves will not save us. Government regulations and incentives by themselves will not save us. But all of these together will turn the tide of planetary degradation and nature is sufficiently resilient to rebound with a vengeance.