Editor,
The effects of climate change are being felt in Carmel more severely than ever. We’ve seen heatwaves this summer that are detrimental for our health, as well as dangerous for animals.
I’d like to bring attention to one aspect of this issue: biodiversity. A few years ago, we had a frost that killed almost all the plants in my neighborhood’s backyards, including the milkweed planted for monarch butterflies. Despite the name, global warming doesn’t just mean temperatures will increase, but that they will become more extreme every season. These severe temperature highs and lows will affect our native plants and allow invasive species to thrive in their place.
In Carmel, this usually means garlic mustard, a flowering plant that produces glucosinolates, a class of chemicals that are toxic to both humans and animals. To protect the biodiversity native to our town, we should make addressing climate change a top priority.
Jillian Moore, Carmel
