Things are difficult, but not hopeless.”

Jaime Palter

“Waaah” is a sound not sought by most, but there are some who seek it nightly. They head outside, after sunset, specifically listening for a low pitched “Waaah” sound. It is the sound of an Eastern Spadefoot Toad — the only endangered amphibian species in Rhode Island.   

Frog watchers are interested in hearing this sound and possibly getting a glimpse of the toad, not for personal gain but to further add to the scientific data being collected nationwide to capture a snapshot of what is happening in the frog and toad populations due to climate change.   

April 22 is Earth Day, a time to reflect on environmental issues that have been at the forefront for decades. Earth Day dates back to 1970, when 20 million Americans participated in demonstrations across the United States, sparking the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The question today is — do people still have the same passion for the environment as they did back then?  

Jaime Palter, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, shared her surprise at the number of students entering her class who said they don’t feel climate change is impacting them. She reflected, “I teach a class on climate and the oceans, and I asked my students if they think climate change has already affected them. What they said actually surprised me; a healthy group of them said they didn’t think it had affected them yet.”  

She went on to say, “Of course there are those who do believe and are feeling the despair of climate change ... My goal is to move both sides in different directions.”   

She explained that for those feeling despair, it’s important to show them that efforts to address climate change have been underway for decades. “So, I want the ones who are despairing and who say no one’s doing anything to realize actually people have been doing tons of things for 20 years; it’s not enough; it’s not fast enough, but they’re not alone in wanting things to change.”  

Palter also hopes to address the students who view climate change as a distant problem. “I want them to understand that this isn’t something that only affects others or future generations. Their life is different because of it, and it’s worth caring about and taking action to support change,” she said. 

Her goal, she added, is to guide both groups toward a position of “hopeful alarm.” 

“Things are difficult, but not hopeless,” she said. “There are people who are totally disengaged, and then there are those who are extremely engaged. But the disengaged group itself contains two extremes: those who’ve given up and are feeling it’s hopeless, and those who are simply unaware of the urgency. Both end up in inaction, but for different reasons.”   

The solution to climate change, for Palter, needs to be a collective one, and bringing the polarized sides to a middle ground is an important first step. 

Professor Bernardo Motta, a journalism professor at Roger Williams University, shared his sentiment on collectively organizing in the community to make changes like these. He said, “When you talk about climate change, think about the things that happen in the community that might be affecting people, but also about what they can do as a counterattack; they can do something that will fix that small problem.” 

For him, it is all about engaging the community around issues they genuinely care about. When it comes to the challenges of climate change, Motta emphasized that solutions often emerge from small communities rallying around specific concerns. As he put it, “It is important to show communities that they are not just victims of this problem. They are, in fact, the organizers who are dealing with it.”

For frog enthusiasts, this might mean becoming a frog watcher. For foodies, it could involve sourcing food locally or getting involved with local farms. For nature seekers, it might mean joining a tree planting event. All of these actions — and many more — are forms of environmental advocacy happening “collectively” in Rhode Island, and more specifically in the East Bay.     

Education and advocacy   

Students from Roger Williams University are actively engaged throughout the East Bay, putting their knowledge into practice. Some are developing presentations on solutions to stormwater issues. Others are helping elementary school students learn how to build wind turbines through a partnership with KidWind.   

Meanwhile, some are volunteering at Save The Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium, contributing their time and effort to protect Narragansett Bay, where changes in habitat and wildlife are happening at an alarming rate.   

Topher Hamblett, executive director of the aquarium, discussed the changes taking place in Narragansett Bay. “As ocean waters warm, we’re seeing new species from the warmer Southern Atlantic, such as golden flounder, making their way into the bay,” he said. He added, “At the same time, other species like lobsters and winter flounder are disappearing.”  

When scientists talk about the impacts of climate change, it can be difficult for people to visualize the changes. At the aquarium, a tank called “The Bay of the Future” helps showcase that reality. It features new species that have recently appeared in Narragansett Bay, such as the Atlantic moonfish, permit jack, and the bangtail puffer.  

The display highlights what is happening in the ocean due to climate change in an actual visual space so people can see and understand it. 

The organization also lends opportunities for people to get involved in saving the bay, such as collectively organizing to restore and relocate salt marshes. The entire aquarium is dedicated to saving the bay via education and opportunities to volunteer.

Seahorses and lobsters

Adam Kovarsky, the aquarium’s curator, spoke about the habitat loss of seahorses as he stared through the glass of an aquarium full of baby seahorses — a new project the aquarium has in development. He shared, “So, pretty much as the oceans get deeper on our shore from sea level rise, the sunlight is not able to penetrate as deep in the water where the grasses grow that these guys live on. So, their habitat is basically kind of like rotting and decomposing.”   

The task at hand is creating a healthy habitat for these baby seahorses to be released to once they become adults. Kovarsky explained, “We’ve transplanted the eelgrass from healthy beds into historically healthy areas to help them kind of like migrate further upward on a shoreline.” He went on to say, “That’s one thing that’ll help. Another thing is just trying our best to save the species that live in there and when we do release them, we find eelgrass beds that are on the healthier side.”   

Save The Bay began in 1970, the same year Earth Day commenced with waves of passionate demonstrations for the environment happening across the U.S. And since then, progress in cleaning Narragansett Bay has been made. Hamblett said, “Choked with pollution, over the decades Save The Bay and many others have worked on cleaning it so it’s a cleaner and healthier bay than it was when we started in 1970.”  

When individuals come together as a collective group to actively improve the environment in their communities, it becomes easier to see both the problems and the solutions to climate change in real time. While the changes may seem distant to some younger generations, the reality is that they are happening.

Palter recalled that she used to see lobsters in the bay, noting, “Narragansett Bay used to have lobsters. It really doesn’t anymore because the temperature has risen too high.” Though younger generations may not remember those days, the aquarium’s display effectively communicates the changes taking place in the Bay due to climate change. 

From a scientific perspective, the situation is concerning — but there’s still hope. Real solutions are unfolding through collective efforts of the community. Organizations like Save The Bay are leading a kind of “counterattack,” taking action to protect and restore the bay before it’s too late, like helping revive the seahorse population — same as the frog watchers collecting data on the number of times they hear the “Waaah” call in the wild to help restore the Spadefoot Toad. Maybe the lobsters can be saved, too.