Things are heating up outside, and I am not alluding to the spring weather. Late last week, the United Nations released the Climate Change report which outlines many of the effects that global warming has on ecosystems, sea levels, and our communities. Most of the article is bleak, recounting a wide variety of influences on our environment. The increased temperatures cause an abundance of fires and drought in some regions and, conversely, excessive precipitation and flooding in others. These changes in climates, species, and water abundance all increase the strain on the inhabitants of their respective regions. Many of you may be asking: how does this affect us, living on the United States mainland—or even—how does this affect us as students at RPI? The affect is more profound than you may at first think.
The UN report states that spring crops are beginning to grow earlier in the season, which leads me to my next point. While some may think that an increased cultivation period is economically beneficial, it actually has proven to be quite the opposite. With the cold temperatures last weekend, a plethora of fruit crops were destroyed in the southeast United States. This could be due to increased variability in the weather, or the fact that many crops may have begun growing prematurely. Either way, the damage has been done, and we will most likely see an increase in fruit pricing. This change actually may have a larger impact on a student at RPI than you would expect.
Every year, the Executive Board approves a price increase in many of the food items offered in the Union. This approval process happened Monday evening, with the changes to take effect after commencement. The hospitality service administration did a wonderful job at presenting the proposed changes and the Executive Board approved them after asking many insightful questions. Why do we have to increase prices every year? As many may think, the primary reason is to make sure that revenue covers cost. Though this year will see a very minimal change in food pricing, with the destructive events that ruined crops this weekend, subsequent administrations may be forced to increase the prices quite a bit more.
It is now easy to see how the progression from global climate change to shifts in crop yield leads to an increased economic strain, even in our own community. If we are being affected, even in our slightly buffered region, think about how many world-wide communities are being affected. A slight increase in rainfall for some areas may be great, but for others disastrous. Increased temperature may lead to longer growing times for some areas, but may be the harbinger for future drought in others.
As students at RPI and global citizens, we are in a great position to elicit change. Our community contains the engineers that can pioneer new ways to create energy, grow crops, or protect those in high risk areas. It contains the management majors to lead businesses, legislation, and policy to help promote change, the EMAC majors to help publicize and promote the problems and solutions, and the architects to design earth-friendly structures. As future global leaders, we need to remain aware of the environmental, social, and economic climates of the world, and use our knowledge and expertise to create change. Although you have heard it many times, I hope that you do not become jaded to, but rather, embrace the slogan: Why not change the world?
