What Still Grows

Irene Kim ’29

Tonnam Jongcharoensiri ’28

To be human means to keep trying, even when things seem beyond repair. Today, our environment faces unprecedented damage: rising temperatures, deforestation, pollution, and catastrophic biodiversity loss. Greenhouse gas concentrations reached record highs in 2023, with carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide all hitting new peaks. At the same time, the glaciers of the Arctic are shrinking, and the Amazon rainforest is being widely destroyed. These losses are irreversible; in fact, we may never return Earth to its former state. 

Unfortunately, this is the stark reality that our humanity faces today. Even if we achieve net zero or net negative emissions, many impacts, such as species extinctions, glacier loss, and fundamental ecosystem changes, cannot fully heal within human timescales. And beyond these, deforestation, plastic pollution, and air pollution also remain major, unresolved crises that will outlast our lifetimes.

Yet our inability to restore what's lost does not mean we should abandon our efforts to repair what we can. In fact, we should continue striving toward net zero even through small daily life practices, because what defines our humanity isn't working towards a simple guaranteed success, but rather the persistence of the care itself.

This truth was powerfully presented in the film Minari, where Jacob and his family move to Arkansas, hoping to build a better life and chase the ‘American Dream’. They dedicate countless hours to digging a well, buying equipment, and tending their farm, only to be met by a huge fire that destroys their shed and ruins their harvest. This devastation shatters not only their material hopes but also their emotional investment. Despite everything, they endured, salvaging what they could while continuing to care for the land and each other. In this heartfelt movie, the minari, the Korean water dropwort, thrives by the stream, rising from the soil regardless of the hardship, metaphorically representing the resilience of our Earth even amidst the degrading environment. This movie is a hopeful reflection of the future of our Earth if it’s met with our genuine care and effort. 

The Lee family’s perseverance, therefore, isn't simply measured by the harvest's success, but by the care, patience, and effort they invest in their lives and relationships. Similarly, while our world may never be restored to its previous state, our willingness to continue striving in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges defines what it means to be human on this fragile yet living planet. 

References:

Boehm, S., & Schumer, C. (2023, March 20). 10 big findings from the 2023 IPCC report on Climate Change. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/2023-ipcc-ar6-synthesis-report-climate-change-findings

“Climate change indicators reached record levels in 2023: WMO.” World Meteorological Organization WMO, 19 March 2024,

https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/climate-change-indicators-reached-record-levels-2023-wmo. Accessed 31 October 2025.

Lee, Hoesung, and Meeyoung Ha. “CLIMATE CHANGE 2023.” IPCC,

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf. Accessed 31 October 2025.

Mowbray, Sean, et al. “As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of 'irreversible climate disaster.'” Mongabay, 15 October

2024, https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/as-25-earth-vital-signs-worsen-scientists-warn-of-irreversible-climate-disaster/. Accessed 31 October 2025.