Blogs
The Fine Line Between Simulation and Reality
Since climate change has been an environmental issue for decades, it's important to be aware of its impact on us and the environment. What a better way to be informed about environmental issues is through simulations. Yes it might sound silly at first, heck I was even skeptical before but after completing the two simulations, it was like a punch in the face of reality for me because it made me realize of how much I'm consuming water (Water Footprint Activity) and how much stress and frustration it takes to be a great leader (Climate Change Activity). By completing these two activities it made me realize that addressing environmental issues isn't just as easy as it sounds.
Before heading on my thoughts on the first activity it's important to know first where water comes from and where does it go Water comes from two sources which are ground water and surface water. Ground water comes from the rain or snow that was produced by the process of precipitation and though this, it fills the open spaces or pore space. Also, there is a saturation zone where the subsurface is completely saturated with water. It contains saturated layers of sand and gravel that are called aquifers. Aquifers are geologic formations that contains water that is efficient for the well, which makes the water potable. It is then pumped into a storage tank then through the pipes which will make the process of distributing the flow of the water into our homes and finally in our own faucets. Surface water, on the other hand, fills the natural bodies of water such as lakes, wetlands, rivers and other surface water bodies. Just like the ground water it is also from precipitation and is also distributed to us through pipes.
Let's start off with the Water Footprint Activity. To be honest at first I thought that I was the type of person who didn't waste tons of water, but guess what I was wrong. Based on the Water Footprint Activity, I am consuming 1,792 gallons a day and 12,544 gallons each week.Before the activity, I thought that I was doing the best I can to conserve water but I guess my best wasn't enough for Mother Earth especially considering the fact that the supply of water is plummeting. This activity made me realize that small things like your diet would affect your daily water consumption, I mean who would've thought. Despite this being only a simulation, it shows of great information on how we make use of our supply of water, how much we're actually using and tips on how to conserve water supply. I think that this simulation is very meaningful and informative because since the supply of water is now decreasing, it's nice to know how to conserve water before it's too late. Thus changing my views on how the issue of water should be tackled.
Let's now head on to the Climate Change Activity. At first I have absolutely no idea what to do because it's my first time experiencing (even though it's a simulation) being President. Since, it was my first time I was very excited because being President means having great authority and power but I didn't realize the weight of responsibility that I had over the people, government and environment. It was very challenging to choose the best option in order to balance my top three priorities which is the environment, the economy and the people. Even though it's sort of impossible for me to become President in the future I still think that this simulation is still relevant because it allows you to feel the responsibility of having great power, which is I may say both a blessing and a curse. Actually it made me change my perspective on how we should address environmental issues because it made me realize that the best choices aren't always the ones that we consider "good". Meaning it really takes a lot of will power to do what is best for the environment.
Because of the strong impact of climate change in our community , it had greatly affected the water cycle by intensifying it because as the air temperature increases, it causes more water to evaporate into the air. Based on what we learned in our previous lessons on our environmental education class, warmer air can hold more water vapor that leads to more intense rainstorms. Intense rainstorms can cause major problems like extreme flooding that often leads to loss of human life, damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, and deterioration of health and in extreme cases death.
Water is essential in our life because it’s what gives us life. Without it here would be no vegetation on land and also no oxygen for animals to breathe. Also water is necessary keep people's bodies healthy because the human body composes 60% water, so if there is no water it would be impossible for us humans and other living organisms to survive because we depend on it so much in order for us to survive. Water has helped shaped our landscape by helping it give structure to soil, which later on forms various landscapes like hills, mountains, forests, etc. On the other hand, it also helped shape our physical/ cultural environment by helping it give life to plants and vegetation, which we depend on for our survival.
