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Thoughts on the 1b.) Pre-Conference Interactive Simulations - Willowridge High School, South Africa
EnvironmentI completed the Ecological Footprint Quiz and played the Climate Challenge on behalf of my school, Willowridge High School in South Africa. Here are some of my thoughts on the simulations.
Regarding the Ecological Footprint Quiz, the thing that stood out the most was the fact that if everyone lived my lifestyle, we would need two and a half Earths to survive. This is despite the fact that my family recycles almost all our waste and tries to save as much water and electricity as possible. This gives you an idea of just how great an effort will be required to successfully combat climate change and achieve a sustainable world.
We also don't have two and a half Earths to live off of, but rather a finite amount of resources on our one and only home. I therefore believe that to achieve a sustainable world we should work together to live in harmony with nature, through using only the resources we need in life and wasting less of the resources we extract and harvest. About a third of the food grown for human consumption goes to waste each year - think about just how many more people we could feed if we reduced this amount!
Here in South Africa a recent drought has left farmers struggling and food prices skyrocketing. Through more careful resource use (for example, by improving the efficiency of water distribution systems) we could free up valuable resources where they are needed most.
In "Climate Challenge" I was alerted to the fact that governments with green economies play a key role in ensuring that there will be a healthy Earth for future generations. The choices I made in the simulation helped reduce carbon emissions while at the same time remaining affordable. I also think that governments with green economies should set examples for other countries by displaying the many benefits this type of economy has.
A key factor in achieving a green economy I believe is changing from a linear economy ( where resources are extracted, used and disposed of, resulting in much environmental pollution and damage) to a circular economy where waste is recycled and used to produce most of the products we use. This will also help achieve a sustainable world.
Overall, I found using the simulations a wonderful, enlightening experience which inspired me to think of various ways to tackle climate change and make our way of living sustainable.
Keanu Canto
Willowridge High School, South Africa
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3 Comment(s)
Hey keanu. these are some great ideas. im glad to see someone else thinking green
Hi Keanu,
Thank you for your interesting post and I would like to appreciate the initiative that you and your family to working towards reducing climate change impact on earth by recycling most of your waste and saving water and electricity at everyday life. Actually this is the biggest step that we all need to start with as a responsible member of our society.
As you mentioned drought is one of the challenges that we are facing more often now a days in some parts of the world, while others are facing more severe rain and storms. So, regional pattern of climate change is different, which need to be recognized.
Global climate models generally give a course picture of regional climate, which might not be representative of the local climate change. So we need more physically based regional climate model to simulate the future climate at a regional scale. From my experience in regional climate modeling of North-America, Canada will be getting more rainfall and warmer temperature in future (2041-2070).
Still we need more emphasis on researching the regional climate change pattern as well as predicting the future.
Lia Pervin
I love your ideas pertaining to the conservation of resources and recycling as much as possible. However, I feel as if some of it is idealistic due to the fact many of our resources, once used, cannot be reused.
Ozzy
Oct 3, 2016