CL I
E G
CHA E T A N M
Written by: Heather Scurti Illustrated by: Joseph Smallwood
F
orty-eight hours of pure devastation. Fifty people pronounced dead. Thirteen hundred still missing and more than 70,000 in need of lifesaving assistance. Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest on record, is the latest national disaster to leave its mark on the planet. So, the question is presented: Was it just another large weather system or a direct result of rapid climate change? For the United States, this is yet another issue in a list of many that is debated among politicians. However, for other countries — especially those in poverty — climate change is a matter of life and death, according to a 2019 Mercy Corps article. Mariah Vertulfo, junior environmental science and global community science double major, was born and
22 | Pursuit
raised in Bohol, a province in the Philippines, where she has gradually seen environmental changes occur. Vertulfo lived in the urban city of Tagbilaran for part of her childhood. During this time, she couldn’t help but notice how congested the city was and how the air quality suffered because of it. “The emissions produced by the greater number of cars and factories have only worsened pollution in the city.” She also lived in the rural area of Magtangtang, Danao, where she witnessed plentiful vegetation, cleaner air and plenty of water. Unfortunately, this is no longer what she sees when she visits her family now. “Now, I notice trees have been cut down and the streams are nearly dry from the increasing heat. Before, the rivers were
