As you already know my last avocado seed had perished, but I decided to give it another shot. I have been browsing trophy garden photos on my Pinterest for the last two weeks and have decided to try my hand at gardening. Unfortunately, I am not able to do that at the moment. The weather has been unpredictable -- not that I am surprised -- Michigan’s weather in particular is known for its erratic weather patterns. I do not want to plant carrot seeds in soil that is warm one day and freezing the next. Alas, I must wait until early April until I can even think of sowing seeds. Such is the life of an aspiring gardener in today’s climate change ridden world.

Many who believe in climate change think of melting glaciers, warming oceans, desertification, and temperature fluctuations [1] [2]. I do not blame them. That is a bulk of what climatologists speak about when discussing the effects of climate change. People do not think of the local effects it can have on them. I remember playing in our family’s rose bushes and garden, ice-less and filled with living flowers. I went back to my previous home (my brother’s home) and found that the rose buds had died due to the snow we had last week. Our roses always bud at around late February, but now it was mid-march and the only buds we had were dead. Our other flowers bud later in the months and do not bloom in the same, glorious spectacle that they did ten years ago; many of our flowers have since died as well.

I spoke to my professor about this, and asked if it was safe to say that our flowers’ current condition is due to climate change. She agreed, telling me that the effects of climate change can be experienced and seen by any regular person; not just scientists. After our conversation, I was more determined to reduce my carbon footprint and involve myself in climate change related activism. My belief is that the way climate change is brought up and taught must undergo some change. We must teach and explain the dangers of climate change not only at the global scale, but at the local scale too. We must teach climate change in a way that involves peoples’ personal lives to inspire them into becoming advocates and activists.