MAKING CLIMATE CHANGE RELATABLE
In Cynthia Pannucci’s Climate Change ThinkingCap Maker Workshops, she hopes to pique participants’ curiosity for learning about global warming and climate change by asking them to choose one of the ways they are, or will be, directly impacted. Some of these impacts include: outdoor sports, our food supply, new technology development, their health, cars, jobs, the economy, air quality, having enough drinking water, and even the decision to start a family. This explorative part of the climate hat maker process is designed to spark reflection, discussion, making, and actions supporting solutions being developed today, or that already exist but are not being acted upon.
Some Relatable Topics For Hat-Making Research Process:
– CAN “AI” CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING? Its applications will solve some problems, but AI development and our use of it will also generate unfathomable amounts of greenhouse gasses from electricity usage. Should we have a say in its development? [SOURCE: “AI’s thirst for energy,” The Guardian, a Science Weekly podcast at https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2024/jul/16/can-the-climate-survive-ais-thirst-for-energy-podcast ]
– WHAT SPORTS ARE THREATENED BY GLOBAL WARMING? From playing golf to sailing, snow skiing and cross-country bicycling, whatever cannot be done indoors. What about this cultural loss will matter to you?
– HOW DOES WHALE POOP BENEFIT HUMANS? Scientists know the nutrients released in whale poop plays a vital role in the health of marine ecosystems, but how does that impact humans?
– ELECTRIC CARS ARE BEING MANUFACTURED AS ONE OF MANY SOLUTIONS for reducing greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere, but what are their negative impacts? What about hybrids?
– WHAT IS MEANT BY “WATER WARS”? And will we, in the not-so-distant future, have to choose between having enough drinking water or using water for livestock and growing crops? Why?
~ HOW ARE POLLINATORS KEY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SUPPLY? Are we threatening their existence? And how can we help build their resilience to climate change?
~ IS DIRT THE SAME AS SOIL? What are the implications of scientists’ predictions that we only have 60-years left of global topsoil and why?
– WHAT ARE THE MOST COSTLY U.S. ECONOMIC IMPACTS FROM GLOBAL WARMING & CLIMATE CHANGE? In addition to the costs of physically moving seaside towns inland because of rising sea levels, what other economic impacts do our towns, states, and country face?