The Break Down
Many people aren't aware of the effects of climate change, and even which foods are drought tolerant, and which foods are harmful to the environment and difficult to farm. We are specifically focusing on people who are consuming foods that are drought intolerant in our school community, and increasing our risks of droughts without even knowing it. We want to make it known to everyone that eating drought tolerant foods can tremendously affect upcoming droughts.
According to many sources, including National Geographic and NASA, research has predicted an 80% likely of an upcoming drought 35 years or longer within the next 80 years.
Droughts, why are they a problem? Well, as climate change continues, and the globe's temperature begins to increase, droughts are expected to become more frequent and conditions will get worse. Replacing foods with a high water footprint with drought tolerant foods can tremendously affect future drought patterns.
The graph above demonstrates the previous drought history of California. It is pictured that between 2014-2017, California was in a state of extreme drought conditions, that we do not want to go back to. Our best bet, limiting our water use by basing our diet off of drought tolerant foods.
According to a article by Stephen Leahy titled
Thirsty Future Ahead as Climate Change Explodes Plant Growth, by century's end, plants will take in considerably more water, leaving less for "anything else," including countries like North America, Europe, and Central Asia. Also written was that a hotter globe could mean warm growing seasons which would give plants more time to grow and consume more water. The global average temperature is expected to rise from anywhere between 4 and 6 degrees Celsius, causing a heat rise and carbon dioxide to be pumped into greenhouses, resulting in an explosion of plant life. |
U.S. Drought Portal wrote that the drought in 2011-2017 was one of the most exceptional droughts in California history. Now, 34.3% of California is exceptionally dry, and if we do not do anything about this issue, the conditions will just get worse.
After an interview with Windward students and Kristie L. Ebi, a
professor at the University of Washington we discovered that not many people really realize how what we eat is affecting how we live. Ms. Ebi wrote that promoting conversations between friends and family members will help spark people’s understanding of why droughts are really the problem, and how changing your diet can possibly prevent further ones from coming. |