Resilience: A resilient system can adapt to the impacts of climate change.
A system that is resilient is able to absorb stress and recover from it. When we were learning about feedback loops, the word resilient came up a lot. Negative feedback loops, where a change in one thing does not come back around to change the original thing, are illustrations of how systems can be resilient. Resilient systems absorb stress and prevent further changes from spiraling out of control.
We can learn a lot from systems in nature that are resilient to climate change. Some systems are able to adapt to higher average temperatures or more extreme weather events, and continue to function as they were before. We can use what we learn to ensure that our man-made systems are able to absorb the stress of climate change and recover from it.
We can learn a lot from systems in nature that are resilient to climate change. Some systems are able to adapt to higher average temperatures or more extreme weather events, and continue to function as they were before. We can use what we learn to ensure that our man-made systems are able to absorb the stress of climate change and recover from it.
Resilience Research Ideas
- Interview students from schools that were impacted by extreme weather events that are related to climate change and determine what they learned about resiliency. What did they do before, during, and after the weather event? How did they handle it? What helped them get back to school and a “normal” day? What helped them come back together as a community?
- Survey parents and teachers in your school community to determine what they think they need to do to make the school more resilient to climate change. What do they think are the biggest climate change threats to the school? How can they contribute to their school community’s resilience?
- Research what structures and technology your school currently has that improves its resilience to climate change. Determine what opportunities your school has for increasing its structures and technology that makes it more resilient to climate change.Look for structures and technologies such as:
b. Shade trees
c. Vegetable gardens
d. Small-scale renewable energy
e. Water drainage and filtration systems
f. And more!