Samantha Jakuboski graduated as Bachelor of Science at Columbia University (Barnard College) in cellular and molecular biology. She dedicated much time during her studies promoting eco-friendly acting and explaining major climate issues on blogs like Nature Journal Scitable [1] and EcoPlum [2].
JUnQ: You started to write for Green Science Nature blog six years ago, in ninth-grade. This is pretty uncommon to have such a sensibility about climate and green science at that age. Why did you start writing?
Samantha: I believe that climate change is a major global threat and that action must be taken to mitigate its effects. But, in order to act, we must first educate. This is why I decided to start writing. I wanted to create a source where people my own age, the next generation of leaders, could go to learn about climate change. So, I wrote a blog proposal to Nature Journal detailing my plans, and they accepted it!
As a ninth-grader, I was by no means an expert on climate change. In fact, I was learning about climate change through my research for the blog posts. In a way, I believe that this naivety worked to my advantage. Since I was learning as I was going along, I first had to explain concepts to myself before explaining them to my readers. As a result, I had a sense of what worked and didn’t work when explaining a concept to someone who is not very familiar on the topic. By writing at a level that was easy to understand, I hoped that students my age, as well as people of all background and ages, would be able to read my posts with ease, learn about climate change, and hopefully take steps to lead greener lives.
JUnQ: According to data cited in a blog article that you published in EcoPlum, 64% of American people believe that the earth is warming, and among then, only 52% agreed that the warning is caused by human activity. Do you have the feeling of being left alone struggling to convince people or that the word does not start being spread out?
Samantha: Since this 2014 poll was taken, the numbers have shifted upward only slightly. According to the May 2017 “Climate Change in the American Mind” survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 70% of Americans believe in climate change, with 58% of Americans believing that is it caused by human activity.
As someone who writes about climate change in the hope of raising awareness, I do find the 58% statistic to be low and a bit discouraging. However, I think it is also important to realize that we are making progress; 58% is the highest percentage recorded since the Yale survey was started in 2008.
JUnQ: Position of President Trump on climate change is to deny it. Immediately, governors, mayors, etc. rose up against it, and promise to fulfill engagement that the climate would benefit. Do you think that these engagements would compensate, at least, or overbalance the bad things Trump’s politic about climate could/will engender?
Samantha: While President Trump has accepted that climate change is indeed happening, he still, unfortunately, does not believe it is rooted in man-made activity. As a result of his weak stance, I definitely think that climate change believers on both the individual and corporate level are now more vocal, as evidenced by the We are Still In [3] Paris climate agreement coalition, and the People’s Climate March on Trump’s 100th day in office.
While our president may refuse to accept the anthropogenic roots of climate change, I think that if states, local governments, and businesses, establish and work toward individual green goals, our nation can continue to make strides toward the 26-28% reduction in national greenhouse gases by 2025 that we pledged in the Paris Peace Accords.
JUnQ: Does being aware mean acting toward climate change for everyday life of an American people (e.g. garbage sorting, water and/or energy saving, ecological cars, eat less to eat better)?
Samantha: Absolutely. If one is truly aware and educated, I don’t see how they can not incorporate little acts of “greenness” into their daily lives.
JUnQ: How to live green as U.S. citizen, what has been done and what remains to be done at personal point of view?
Samantha: In my household, we recycle, use LED light-bulbs and energy efficient appliances, compost, and try to reduce the amount of disposable paper and plastic items we purchase. We also unplug appliances, such as phone chargers and TVs, when we are not using them, since they can contribute to “vampire energy”— energy that is consumed even when the devices are not in use. Further, I love to run, and my father enjoys riding his bike, so rather than hopping in our car and driving, we take a more active approach when we need to get places (I guess it helps that we also live in New York City, where everything is so close!) While these little life-style changes are small, they do allow us to reduce our individual and household carbon footprints. When people ask me what they can do to live greener lives, I name these examples and tell them that small actions do add up and make a difference. However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in motivating people to make these easy daily changes. Some people I know still don’t recycle!
JUnQ: And at a larger scale (cities, companies, state)?
Samantha: It is now up to businesses and local governments to lead the charge against climate change. And already, over 1,200 governors, mayors, colleges, businesses, and investors have signed the We Are Still In [3] agreement to ensure that the United States continues to reduce its carbon emissions.
Further, I think that our colleges and universities must prepare our students, especially business school students, to deal with the consequences of climate change so that our future leaders can realize their corporate social responsibility and make smart eco-friendly business decisions.
JUnQ: Among all the consequences of climate change, which one is the most unexpected and worrying?
Samantha: While few people may link climate change to conflict and terrorism, it appears that there may be some direct correlations. One of my friends at Barnard College recently wrote a dissertation on climate change as a precursor to conflict– specifically on how anthropogenic climate change and drought induced the Syrian Civil War. As resources, such as water, become scarcer, and agriculture becomes depressed due to drought and rising temperatures, the prospect of future conflict does worry me.
Another unexpected consequence of climate change is the economic impact. When people think of climate change, they think of numbers such as the rise in temperatures or ocean levels. However, climate change will also affect the finances of future generations. In September, I wrote a post for EcoPlum called “Pay Up, Millenials.” In this post, I explained that people are less productive at extreme temperatures, thus causing a decrease in national GDP. Furthermore, as extreme weather caused by climate change continues to wreck havoc and cause billions of dollars in damage, taxpayers can expect to face higher taxes to pay for these costs. As a result of both lower GDP and increased taxes, a Demos and NexGen Climate analysis found that if no action is taken to combat climate change, a 21-year-old 2015 college graduate earning a median income can expect their lifetime income and wealth to decrease by $126,000 and $187,000, respectively. The predicted loss in wealth jumps to $764,000 for a college graduate born in 2015 earning a median income. Ouch.
JUnQ: Thank you very much for this interview!
— Adrien Thurotte