Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
California's Drought, Affected By Climate Change
According to SBCAPCD, the lack of precipitation in California has caused vehicles to throw dust and other particles up into the air, increasing the heat and also increasing the harmful health effects from the air. The particles also break apart large storms before they have a chance to precipitate, and they also help wildfires start and spread much faster and more frequently. Fortunately, the Air Control District has a plan to decrease this.
California has been in a drought for about 6 years now, and it has affected how we use our water immensely. Since the start of the drought, we have cut back on water usage, which has helped lessen the drought conditions. Some of these things include not watering grass, limiting shower time, and using water les in our houses.
The first thing that changed in the drought was watering our grass, which was not a very hard or horrible consequence. For many people in our area, having green grass was something that has always happened, but for me it wasn’t a bad thing, for I don’t own a lawn. Overall, this was a small change because of the drought, which didn’t affect our everyday lives.
One thing that does get under people’s skin is that we have to lessen showering, but many of us have already accepted the fact thing we can’t shower for more than 5 minutes.
California’s citizens have accepted the drought, and have gone great lengths to decrease our water usage, and at this rate we will keep conserving water until this drought is over.
Works Cited
"California's Drought and Air Quality | Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District." Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.