Olivia Russo
Staff Writer
The first six months of 2024 set new high temperature records since 2023, resulting in projections for it to be the warmest year on record.
NASA has declared 2024 the hottest summer and Climate Central, an organization of scientists who report on climate change, reported that October was warmer across the country.
The summer in Southern California also has been named the hottest on record. October had a heat wave at the beginning of the month, and unusually high temperatures lasted until November.
“That’s primarily due to human consumption and burning of fossil fuels increasing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which then makes the climate warmer and more variable,” Steve Allison, professor of ecology at UC Irvine, said. “The fact that the whole planet is getting warmer, definitely has a trickle down effect on the local environment, but there are a lot of other factors that play into that.”
There is a direct correlation between the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and global warming. With the usage of electricity and coal, the weather in certain areas has changed drastically, leaving crops to change as well.
Scientists have known the potential effects of climate change for over a hundred years, now they are able to see how it is affecting local communities.
There is a direct connection between these impacts and communities. They can be affected by the amount of trees that are present, which creates a heat island. With this effect, it becomes more difficult for these communities to deal with the more intensive heat.
Heat islands are urban areas that are higher in temperature than surrounding rural areas due to the lack of trees, surfaces that absorb heat, and activities that generate heat.
The city of La Verne was affected by these heat islands in the downtown area, where trees are planted in the cement. A study done by La Verne students in Victor Carmona’s class helped to create a solution for these heat islands.
The company that plants these trees originally planted a tree that is not native to La Verne. Students figured out that if the company planted that non-native tree, it would allow time for the cement to break down, letting a native tree take its place to reduce a heat island effect, and remove the negative impacts a non-native tree has.
“What I’m trying to show the students is not something that happened 100 years ago, where we realized that this could change our climate,” Carmona, professor of biology, said. “We’re in that future already. The climate has changed. It’s not that it’s going to change, it has changed. So how do we adapt? That’s going to require science.”
Scientists are working to come up with other solutions to reduce heat, but there are things that an individual person can do as well.
“The biggest thing is to get away from the consumer society,” Jay Jones, retired professor of biology and biochemistry, said. “Every item that we buy has embodied energy and material resources and all you have to do is look at the Halloween decorations to realize there’s a lot of needless stuff that is contributing to energy use and enhancing global warming.”
College students contribute to this consumer culture, buying from companies like SHEIN and Amazon that they may only use for one event and then never again. These companies have a negative impact on the environment with their fast delivery service and countless options. Limiting purchases from these sites can help reduce climate change.
Olivia Russo can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
