{"id":1087,"date":"2026-09-10T12:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/?p=1087"},"modified":"2026-09-10T12:14:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:14:02","slug":"sustainability-past-and-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability- Past and Present"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <h2>Sustainability- Past and Present<\/h2>\n<p>by Anonymous<\/p>\n<p>When I decided to visit the Natural History Museum as a part of my Writ-150 class, I expected to learn strictly about the past. I didn\u2019t expect that it would completely change how I think about the present and the future. As I walked through the exhibits, I realized that learning about history, environmental history specifically, is not just about understanding what has already happened. It is essential for understanding what could happen in the future.<\/p>\n<p>What stood out to me most was the many exhibits that connected distant history to the place that I live in now. Learning that Los Angeles was once underwater made everything feel extremely personal. It is quite strange to think that the ground I walk on every day at USC used to be a completely different environment. That idea made me realize that the land we think of as stable and permanent has always been constantly changing.<\/p>\n<p>This completely changed how I thought about sustainability. Before the visit, I mostly associated sustainability with actions in the present, like the use of renewable energy and reducing waste as much as possible. Although those are important, they do not fully explain why sustainability matters. The museum demonstrated that the present is the result of millions of years of environmental changes, adaptations and extinctions.<\/p>\n<p>That connection between history and present became even more clear when I started thinking about extinction. The museum shows entire species that once dominated Earth but no longer exist. Even though the extinction of dinosaurs was caused by natural events, it still reveals something extremely important. No species is guaranteed to survive.<\/p>\n<p>Today, human activity is causing environmental changes at a much faster rate than what we saw in the past. Climate change, habitat loss and biodiversity decline are all happening now. Because of that, history is not just something to learn about. It is something we need to pay attention to in order to fully understand what is happening around us.<\/p>\n<p>After leaving the museum and walking back to campus, everything looked the same, but I noticed it differently. All of the buildings, walkways and even the greenery felt much less permanent. It was so much easier to imagine that this place could look completely different in the future, just like it looked completely different in the past.<\/p>\n<p>As I continued to reflect, current environmental issues started to feel more immediate. The simple choices that are made now are not isolated. They will become a part of history that future generations will look back on.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, my visit to the Natural History Museum demonstrated that learning about history is essential for understanding sustainability in both the present and future. The past is not just a simple collection of events that are over and done with. It provides patterns, warnings and concrete evidence that help explain what we are experiencing now. Without that basic understanding, it is easy to ignore the seriousness of environmental change. But when we can connect the past to the present, then sustainability can be fully understood.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I decided to visit the Natural History Museum as a part of my Writ-150 class, I expected to learn strictly about the past. I didn\u2019t expect that it would completely change how I think about the present and the future. As I walked through the exhibits, I realized that learning about history, environmental history specifically, is not just about understanding what has already happened. It is essential for understanding what could happen in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1097,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[187,181],"tags":[191,189],"class_list":["post-1087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nature-place","category-sustainability-in-los-angeles-southern-california","tag-nature-and-place","tag-sustainability-in-los-angeles-and-southern-california"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sustainability- Past and Present<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sustainability- Past and Present - Rooted\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I decided to visit the Natural History Museum as a part of my Writ-150 class, I expected to learn strictly about the past. I didn\u2019t expect that it would completely change how I think about the present and the future. As I walked through the exhibits, I realized that learning about history, environmental history specifically, is not just about understanding what has already happened. It is essential for understanding what could happen in the future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rooted\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"fullan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"fullan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50\"},\"headline\":\"Sustainability- Past and Present\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":4,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Nature and Place\",\"Sustainability in Los Angeles and Southern California\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nature &amp; Place\",\"Sustainability in Los Angeles &amp; Southern California\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sustainability- Past and Present - Rooted\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/10\\\/sustainability-past-and-present\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sustainability- Past and Present\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rooted\",\"description\":\"USC Dornsife \",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50\",\"name\":\"fullan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"fullan\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/rooted\\\/author\\\/fullan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sustainability- Past and Present","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sustainability- Past and Present - Rooted","og_description":"When I decided to visit the Natural History Museum as a part of my Writ-150 class, I expected to learn strictly about the past. I didn\u2019t expect that it would completely change how I think about the present and the future. As I walked through the exhibits, I realized that learning about history, environmental history specifically, is not just about understanding what has already happened. It is essential for understanding what could happen in the future.","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/","og_site_name":"Rooted","article_published_time":"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00","author":"fullan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/"},"author":{"name":"fullan","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/#\/schema\/person\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50"},"headline":"Sustainability- Past and Present","datePublished":"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/"},"wordCount":4,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Nature and Place","Sustainability in Los Angeles and Southern California"],"articleSection":["Nature &amp; Place","Sustainability in Los Angeles &amp; Southern California"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/","name":"Sustainability- Past and Present - Rooted","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-09-10T19:10:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-10T19:14:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/#\/schema\/person\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/2026\/09\/10\/sustainability-past-and-present\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sustainability- Past and Present"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/","name":"Rooted","description":"USC Dornsife ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/#\/schema\/person\/9dc69adc23e88ef70f43ee96af6e7e50","name":"fullan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d8628be514483e86ee0599e205afadbecf8d4b3c7853d9e9480d6328ba848d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"fullan"},"url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/author\/fullan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1097"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1090,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions\/1090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/rooted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}