35 How Climate Change Affects Us: Personal Reflection
azerwic; gcalpito; and elshikh
Gea Calpito: How Climate Change Affects Me
Calling both Iowa and the Philippines home, I have seen how the difference of the development of each respective country and their geographical location affects their outlook on climate change and how that affects their mitigation strategies. The image above is taken in the Bilar-Man Made Forest in Bohol, Philippines. It was apart of a reforestation project that was apart of the Philippine Government’s plan to be able to fix the the soil erosion and deforestation that was caused by the growing industrialization and the growth of tourism. I had not known about this fact until I had went to visit it myself, I had always thought that this was a natural growth of the trees and the the population and government of Bohol had built around it.
What I Have Noticed
The largest thing I have noticed is the increased amount of weather and climate change and the weather. There have also been more severe events. Through the internet, it is easy to keep up with news, I can see that there have been changes that are happening all over the world.
When I visit back home, I notice an increase in temperatures in the cities and new mitigation and prevention strategies. This, such as greener areas like public parks and rooftop gardens, have increased in the major cities in the Philippines. There is also an increase in infrastructure that is designed to be able to withstand specific weather events, such as hurricanes, typhoons, and floods that are common in the Philippines.
The most major change I had seen in the Philippines was the creation of sea walls along the coast of the beach where my grandparents reside. From what I had learned, it was placed due to the increased number of typhoons in the past decade that specifically hit Visayan part of the Philippines.
Here in Iowa, the changes seem to be more subtle, since I like here and move through my day to day without paying much attention, it is hard to spot the differences that is in front of my face. One of the things that I can tell has been happening though through the past years is the the differences in temperature and weather as the year goes compared to previous years. The main thing I have noticed is the lack of snow, or rather the length that snow is here, that we have gotten the previous years.
From when I first came to the United States, I remember the temperature dropping in October and the snow fall between November and December while it would clear up by March and April. To compare it to the past years, snow fall has been hard yet only here for a short period of time.
What I am Doing
The main thing I have been doing is educating myself, through this project and keeping up with the news, I have been able to understand climate change, its consequences, and what mitigation policies are currently in place. But I do think that this is something that should be happening continuously. The effects and causes of climate change are always have the possibility to change. I also have been voting for individuals and policy changes that would affect climate change positively.
I have also been keeping more of my attention towards the climate in the Philippines, since everytime I go home there seems to always be a change. They also currently have a slightly unstable government at the moment so I feel that I always have to keep attention in the case there may be changes in certain policies.
There are small actions that I have become mindful of to lower my emissions. I have increased the use of my public transportation, but that is also because I am privileged enough to live in a city where it is extremely accessible. I have also begun to cut my plastic waste and waste in general. I have invested more in second-hand containers to eliminate my use of disposable plastic bags. Although these changes may seem minuscule to the larger picture, they allow me to have a sense of progress in the battle against climate change.
Amie Zerwic: How Climate Change Affects Me
The impacts of climate change are widespread and catastrophic, and these impacts are only expected to worsen over time. From the environment and biodiversity to human life, the impacts of climate change are widespread and affect us all. (AZ)
Climate change has affected my life in numerous ways. First, I live in Iowa and have seen first hand the devastating effects of storms like the derecho. Because climate change makes extreme weather events like tornadoes more frequent and intense, it feels like sheltering from tornadoes in the basement is a common occurrence. Thunderstorms and droughts in Iowa can also be very common and dangerous, leading to devastating effects on human, animal, and plant life. (AZ)
Image 1. Shows farmland that my family owns in Allamakee, Iowa (near the Mississippi river) and rents out to farmers. (AZ)
Image 2. shows me observing a tree on my family’s farmland in Allamakee, Iowa. (AZ)
Image 3. Shows me with my uncle working on our land in Allamakee, Iowa. (AZ)
My family recently bought some land in Allamakee, Iowa to be used as a place to hunt, fish, and vacation. We bought the land with a house that was in ruin and fixed up the land and built a new house. My uncle, shown in image 3, does this work for a living. He buys land, fixes it up, and sells it at a profit. Often, fixing up this land means planting trees and other crops, which helps the environment through improving biodiversity, restoring environments, and carbon sequestration. My uncle and much of my family are avid hunters. Hunting improves environmental health by reducing the spread of disease, preventing overpopulation, keeping the food chain regulated, and preservation by preventing overgrazing. Some of this land, seen in image 1, is rented out to farmers. Farming, especially family farming, improves environmental health by sequestering carbon and removing greenhouse gas emissions, improving soil health, conserving water, and supporting biodiversity. (AZ)
Image 4. Shows me exploring a cave in Allamakee, Iowa. (AZ)
Image 5. Selfie of me taken after hiking the Effigy mounds in Iowa. (AZ)
While I don’t hunt like the rest of my family, I love to hike and take walks out in nature. Because I spend so much time outside surrounded by nature, I see the importance of taking care of our natural environment. If we don’t take action now to stop climate change, our environment will keep degrading and we will lose our planet. (AZ)
Word count just personal section: 418
Maathir Elsheikh: How Climate Change Affects Me
Image 1. Exploring Maquoketa Caves State Park for the third time.
Growing up between Sudan and Iowa, I have witnessed two vastly different realities shaped by climate change. In Sudan, climate change feels immediate, something that touches daily life through intense heat, water scarcity, and food insecurity. In Iowa, the impacts are just as real but often feel more distant or buffered by systems designed to manage them, like infrastructure and emergency response. This tension has shaped the way I understand climate change: not simply as a scientific issue, but as deeply human in origin, rooted in inequality and access. Most surprising was realizing how much the individuals most affected by climate change are usually the least culpable for its cause. (ME)
In Sudan, families are forced to adjust to declining harvests and erratic climate and have limited power to influence the global policies causing those trends. In Iowa, climate disputes will happen in policy meetings or academic circles, meaningful but sometimes far removed from people suffering the worst effects. Having walked in both shoes has taught me that the solutions must be global and local, and that equity must be at the center. As a learner, I have started to view my education as not just a personal privilege, but as a responsibility. I read more analytically now, not just to absorb facts, but to understand how the dots between climate science, public health, and lived experience intersect. (ME)
I want to talk about climate change with family and friends who might not see it as a top concern, especially those back home. And I have become more intentional in my choices, from reducing waste and reusing materials to questioning how systems like food production or transportation affect emissions. I do not believe that individual action alone can cure a global emergency, but I do believe our living, our voting, and our activism do matter. I have realized it is not only important to know, but then to keep knowing, and in that, find a sense of purpose. I want to continue to use my voice in forms that speak on behalf of communities I am from, especially the ones too often left out of environmental conversations. To me, climate change is a question of whether the world we are constructing is where all humans, regardless of borders and backgrounds, can live healthy and dignified lives. It is that commitment that guides the way I see the world and the way I plan to create my future as a public health professional. (ME)