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 >
Climate Change
Global warming causes shortages of water to get worse. Climate change will effect precipitation, evaporation, and run offs that will affect the amount of water in certain places. Because of climate change, there will be changes in precipitation patterns, more water will be evaporated and run offs from rain water will also be affected. Each of these changes will have a negative impact on water availability. To find out more information on this, go to http://www.nature.com/news/water-risk-a … ms-1.14446
Meghan,
I completely agree with everything you have said. Living in California, I can easily see how global warming is affecting the climate, as there has been an ongoing drought here for a number of years. It is obvious that the climate is changing greatly because it never rains anymore, and it is hot out all the time. Even in October, the temperature could get close to 90 degrees in the afternoon. Farmers can no longer grow crops in the central valley due to lack of water, and there is a much higher risk of wildfires because of the dryness and heat. This is especially bad because wildfires add to the CO2 in the atmosphere, which in turn add to global warming. Climate change is definitely a big issue.
What you did not mention was how you intend to solve this problem. There many things you can do, namely lowering your carbon footprint and conserving water. What to you personally plan to do to combat global warming?
Elizabeth, thank you for your feedback. I think that as a population, we need to try to do fewer things that will pollute the environment, such as carpooling, turning off electronics, and running less water. Hopefully all of these things will have a positive impact on the climate, and water won't run out as fast.