Human Impact On California's Environment

The world is currently undergoing changes unlike ever recorded before in human history. Record breaking temperatures are occurring more frequently, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are at their highest rates since the Jurassic period, and a rapidly increasing population, fully reliant on our planets natural resources, are beginning to push the earth to its limit. On a local level, these environmental changes are having a significant impact on California’s environment. If this trend continues, California could experience devastating blows to its agriculture industry, a massive source of revenue. Perhaps the most important question to ask ourselves right now is; how can we reduce the impact that we have on California’s environment? So that we may
better apply it to a global scale.
Before discussing the impacts that humans have had on California’s environment, it’s important to first understand its rapid industrial, agricultural, as well as the more recent residential expansion since the industrial revolution. According to the US Census Bureau, from 1900 to 2016, California has gained approximately 37,422,350 residents, a whopping 2520% increase. This rapid expansion, motivated by California’s moderate climate, fertile soil, and diverse land resources, also motivated many of the climate issues we find today.
The largest human impact on the California environment is one that you often can’t see at all, air pollution.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2000-2013, California was ranked as the second largest producer of CO2 emissions in the United States, behind Texas. Air pollution is an extremely difficult form of pollution to bring into the public eye for two reasons. One, because it is the introduction of microscopic molecules into the atmosphere, it is invisible and often goes unnoticed. Secondly, the effects of these pollutes can take decades of exposure to accumulate and see the true extent of its effects. Over long-term exposure, Carbon emissions speed up the greenhouse effect by trapping more heat in the atmosphere, increasing the risk for prolonged droughts. This process is largely linked to global warming, and is beginning to have devastating effects on California’s already dry and warm climate. CO2 emissions derive from human activities like the burning of gas, coal, oil, and fossil fuels, as well as through intensified land use for agricultural purposes (Castro, Huber
231-33).
The only way to reduce CO2 emissions in California is to take strong action as soon as possible.
Individuals can take action by investing on greener energy sources. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made it easier now more than ever for people to reduce their own carbon footprint by labeling various electrical products ranging from dishwashers to tablets with an Energy Star label. These products meet EPA’s low standards of energy consumption which will in turn reduce the cost of energy bills. As for transportation, carpooling and public transportation that rely on renewable energy are key to reducing your carbon footprint. Less than a decade ago, most vehicles were required to only meet minimal fuel-economy standards (Henson 388), so for those who must commute by car daily, investing in an energy efficient vehicles like electric cars and hybrids is a great way to help cut carbon
emissions.
Individual action is essential for reducing air pollution, but for an issue as large as this we must look on a much grander scale. For some time now California environmental policies seem to if anything encourage companies to release more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. California government can respond to air pollution by adapting stricter policies that require companies to limit or introduce a gradual reduction in the amount of carbon they release into the atmosphere, and in 2007, they did just this. The Supreme Court gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a green light under the Clean Air Act, which led to a variety of emission-reducing policies (Henson 389).
It’s not just the air; California’s oceans are being impacted by humans too. California’s oceans are especially susceptible to overfishing because of its rich and diverse marine ecosystems. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) has estimated that out of 392 stocks, 15% are overfished, 50% fully are exploited, and 6% are depleted (Castro 391). The reason that overfishing is becoming such an epidemic is because as the population increases, the demand for higher tropic level species, in other words, species that take longer to reproduce also increases. Additionally, the methods companies use to maximize fishing yield like dredging and bottom trawling often have devastating effects on the marine ecosystem (Briggs 102). Overfishing may seem like a complex problem with a simple fix, eat less fish. However, with few regulations put in place, fishing companies can continue to strip the ocean bare.
This means that in order to reduce our impact on California’s oceans, we must become smart consumers. Choosing farm raised and sustainably caught seafood rather than wild caught is a vital part of helping overfished species repopulate. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been helping people make better seafood choices with its Seafood Watch program. The Seafood Watch program ranks recommendations based on environmentally friendly farming practices and by filtering out threatened species. Using this program, species that take longer to reach reproductive maturity like the endangered Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, who can take more than a decade to reproduce, are given more time to reproduce. Another way is to simply get involved.