Our planet is 7,926 miles in diameter. Its seven oceans sprawl across 361 million square kilometers, while land claims the remaining 149 million square kilometers of surface. In the Solar System, Earth consumes a space of 1,086 billion cubic miles. If it isn’t apparent, our home is vast, and the current issue of our rapidly degrading environment is the only danger proportional to its size. It is a culmination of many factors, including air and water pollution, deforestation, natural disasters, and global warming. Despite its urgency and universal ramifications, the gradual death of our planet is an issue that remains contentious.

In 2024, Richmond received recognition as the United States’ most climate-resilient city in a study published by USA Today. This study employed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk Index as a mode of ranking ninety-six cities across the nation on the basis of natural disaster preparedness, population vulnerability, flood and drought likelihood, and community tenacity.

Since 1970, however, the average annual temperature in Richmond, Virginia has risen by 2.8 Fahrenheit each passing year as a result of the greenhouse effect—an entire degree higher than the 1.8 global median.

It becomes somewhat of a paradox, then, that Richmond simultaneously appears “ahead of the game” in regards to climate justice, but based on the above statistics, Richmond itself is not absolved from its contribution to this decay.

In regards to the USA Today study, residents of Richmond themselves have questioned the findings. Some have deemed them inaccurate because Richmond holds a higher position than locations such as Seattle, Washington, which are characterized by their proactive climate policies. Others cite Richmond’s record of unsustainability with regards to air and water pollution. For instance, although RVA insists on its compliance with all federal and state guidelines, numerous contaminants have been detected in tap drinking supplies since 2022. These chemicals include chlorate, radium, and several acids that can cause cancer and internal organ damage. Moreover, in 2020, the Richmond Metro’s suburban county of Henrico received a “C” grade for its air quality from the American Lung Association. Chesterfield received an “A” which balanced the overall profile of the metropolitan area, but that does not dilute the harm done in counties that remain contributors to air pollution. In 2023, Richmond completely dropped from the list of cleanest air cities due to alarming levels of particle pollution in both the city and, again, in Henrico.

Among the lesser-known concerns regarding environmental degradation is the discussion regarding soil health at both the local and international scale. “One way you can see how healthy [your soil is] is by measuring the organic matter, and more than fifty percent of agricultural soil [in the world] may be degraded … The soil in Virginia—it does not have magnesium,” says Mrs. Ruchi Gupta, a local soil health advocate from Henrico. She has collaborated with NGOs such as Conscious Planet and the local Green Teenz to organize rallies in Washington, D.C., and has lobbied for soil health conservation in Congress. She warns how depletion of organic matter in soil can drastically reduce its ability to sequester carbon, and about the dangers of fertilizers once they reach watersheds via runoff or the water table beneath the surface. Long term effects of depleted soil quality include food shortages, water scarcity, and loss of biodiversity. She commended programs–such as the Henrico Conversation Action Network–which aim to bring greater awareness about conservation into public policy.

Climate change and environmental deterioration have obvious consequences on daily life, and in Richmond, there has been an abundance of absurd, severe weather phenomena in recent years. Summers have gotten hotter than five years past. This winter alone should be revealing of rapidly shifting weather patterns, with several consecutive snow days and instances of water supply insecurity in the last two months. The situation of the planet’s health, however, can also be exploited to perpetuate bigotry in a circumstance called “environmental racism”–a practice facilitated by the construction of Richmond itself. In a documentary created by the organizations Outspoken Narrative and Green Teenz RVA, participants studied the disproportionate implications of climate change on underserved minority communities in the metropolitan area. They found that, on average, low-income and racially marginalized groups frequently live “in close proximity to polluting facilities like power stations, plastics plants, and methane gas pipelines or to infrastructure like major highways.” These areas have limited greenspace, impacting breathing ability. Moreover, in the past, predominantly Black communities in RVA were demarcated with “dangerous” and “hazardous” statuses, which blocked those locations from infrastructural investment. In the present, these neighborhoods are “some of the hottest parts of town in the summer, with few trees and an abundance of heat-trapping pavement.”

That said, we have made progress, despite environmental action not yet coming to the forefront of policy-making and voter issues. For example, the city strives to reduce carbon emissions by 45% come 2030, in accordance with the RVA 2050 plan to completely eliminate net-greenhouse gas production in twenty-five years. We have reduced total emissions by 22% as of 2024. Moreover, the recently passed Clean Energy Apprenticeship Act functions to uplift the clean energy industry and promote it to individuals searching for work in the field.

In examining the issue of the environment, we often rely on the misconception that human-induced climate change will only plague the future and does not require immediate attention; it is simpler to excuse ourselves, to look towards politicians and peers who spare little sympathy, admit defeat, and lose motivation to take initiative and advocate for the planet. The irreversible foundation of global climate devastation, however, is being laid now, and the youngest generations will inherit a doomed planet if we continue to procrastinate until 2050 to stop this compounding crisis.

It falls into the hands of common folk to seek the courage to remain steadfast to the cause when a situation turns bleak.

So, join grassroot efforts, because they aren’t too small to make a tangible change. Send letters to local legislators, because your words aren’t in vain. Participate in local and school organizations like Green Teenz or Maggie Walker’s SECSEE with the intention to make your contribution to our community. Read and repost. And most of all, don't forget to turn off that lightswitch in your bathroom.

“[Climate change] is like a slow poison—you just don’t see it coming,” says Mrs. Gupta. “The good thing is the problem has a solution. And [this issue] will become all the more relevant as we lose time.”

Information retrieved from the Virginia Climate Center, the RVA 2050 Plan, Conscience Planet, American Lung Association, Climate Change Action Fund, and an interview with Ms. Ruchi Gupta.