Interpretation of the Future Coast Project

I have to admit that when I first found out that we were making voicemails from the future for this Future Coast game, I thought it was a little weird because I didn’t understand the point of it and how it would be beneficial to the players of the game. When I went outside to make my voicemail, I didn’t want anyone that wasn’t in our class to hear me because I knew they would wonder what it was that I was doing since I was talking about how we ran out of water. So I tried to go where there was the fewest number of students possible.

Although after I listened to some of the voicemails I realized that it actually was a fun, entertaining idea. Once I started listening to other people’s voicemails I felt so embarrassed because other people got really creative with their voicemails, whereas I wasn’t very creative with mine. After listening to some of the voicemails, I started to realize what the actual point of the game was. The game is about getting people to think of the future and what it will look like with climate change. So in my case, I picked the first thing that I could think of would happen in the future due to climate change and that was running out of water. I noticed that a few other people used a similar idea of being short on water, but some people chose ideas that I would have never thought of either, which was really interesting.

One other example of Cli-Fi that we talked about in class this term that I thought related very similarly to Future Coast was the Global Weirding website. I found a connection between these two because Global Weirding gets people thinking about how we will be affected by climate change in the future except rather than people coming up with their own ideas, the ideas are provided to them. They are both also interactive versions of Cli-Fi. Future Coast is a little bit more interactive than the Global Weirding website since people actually make up their own ideas of the future effects of climate change rather than having those ideas provided to them. However, I think that both versions of Cli-Fi are very beneficial to not only students, but everyone. Future Coast and Global Weirding can both be used in schools to help get students engaged with talking about climate change and the possible effects it will have on our futures, which is extremely important.  Contine reading

The consequences of our actions are here…

Global warming has always been a topic that I have felt passionately about. Ever since I was able to recognize that the environment was changing, and not for the better, I have felt strongly about the changing climate, as well as the reasons behind it. In recent years, I would say that I have stayed fairly “in the loop” with climate change topics, including the preventative measures on both the small and large scale. In addition to this, I have also followed some scientists predictions on what could and will happen if we as human beings stay on the same course we are on now with regards to CO2 emissions and air pollution. However, it wasn’t until viewing the Global Weirding is Here website that I truly understood the massive, global, and near future effects that climate change will have on the environment, animals, and even humans.

One of the most shocking initial facts that struck me upon viewing the Global Weirding is Here timeline was that climate change has already affected people across the world on a very large scale. Issues such as increased heavy rainfall in the United States and a rising sea level across the world have already been occurring right in-front of our eyes. Although those issues alone seem fairly large in scale, that is nothing compared to what will come if we don’t do anything. Based on the “Do Nothing” scenario where we as humans continue what we are currently doing we should expect to see rising water and surface temperatures, an increased risk of wildfires, severe drought across the world and mass extinctions of species; all in our lifetimes. The last part, “all in our lifetime” is something that is truly shocking and eye-opening. It is something that should be a wake-up call for all people, regardless of age, regardless of whether this will occur in your lifetime, your children’s lifetime, or even your grandchildren’s lifetime. This stuff is happening and it’s happening fast. It should be our responsibility as humans being to make a difference on this Earth that will benefit people for many years to come.

It’s shocking to think that something such as global warming, which is usually talked about in the future tense (“if we don’t do this, then this will happen”), is already occurring.  Contine reading