Gaming for Mother Earth

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/games-quizzes/tom-green-quiz-game.html

Jim McKinney

The Planet Green Game is easy to play and a fun quiz game (though I was far from a high scorer), with lots of links for more connections, and some very interesting side/slide shows. One set of slides featured pitiful pictures of dead birds whose decayed remains exposed the incredible contents of their stomachs filled with amazing quantities of small plastic objects they had ingested. Other slide shows include amazing nature photography, pictures of electric cars for the future, the world’s cutest endangered species, and even sexy, sustainable lingerie!

I am amazed at how much information is now available on global climate change. I am also amazed at how the public debate has gone from complete denial to generally accepted truth. Now of course, the debate centers on whether human activity is responsible, and if so, to what degree and whether it is possible to do anything about it. Surprisingly, as recently as Friday, September 24, 2010, conservative guests on the HBO Bill Maher show were still hotly debating the issue!

These games, however, seem to indicate that there is a mass movement to take things far beyond this politicized debate. Now, not only is it commonplace for people in the new media to be convinced that human activity is involved, but they are also busy exploring possibilities for doing something. So much so in fact, that people see the issue as an opportunity to face the challenge with a “Game On!” attitude.

Ben & Jerry
Even though I couldn’t get the car started in the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream sponsored Lick Global Warming Eco Mission driving competition, there was a very interesting memory game, the Lick Global Warming Memory Card Game, to learn about simple actions people can take to fight global warming. Interesting facts included, for example, were that on average cars emit one pound of CO2 per mile driven; that replacing an incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb saves 100 lbs of CO2 per year; that switching to cold water for one load of laundry per week saves 250 lbs of CO2 per year; that recycling just ½ of your aluminum cans, bottles, plastic, cardboard and newspapers would save2400 lbs of CO2 per year, etc. http://www.lickglobalwarming.org/game.cfm


KURE WASTE CHASE
For children, one of the best sites has to be www.noaa.gov the website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where there are many games available through links to other websites. I found this Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures game to be a lot of fun, driving a beach buggy and piloting a zodiac to search for and collect marine debris from above and below the water on Kure Atoll in the South Pacific. It is great fun while also learning about marine debris, where it comes from and how it affects wildlife.

http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/funandgames/jmc_kure.html



ENERGYVILLE, a SimCity-like game sponsored by the Chevron Corporation, has players compete to provide for the energy needs of a city while trying to mitigate environmental, economic, and security impacts. It is a somewhat serious game, which takes into consideration several possible sources of energy, and provides many links to other sources as well as interesting practical background information about different sources of energy including the following:
http://willyoujoinus.com/energyville/?gclid=CLOkhY_jqqQCFRh7gwodLg834Q

Biomass:
* a renewable source of energy
* clearance of grassland to grow biofuel crops releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land;
* by 2015, there will be a 12-14% increase in ethanol use
Coal:
* ½ ton per household per year needed;
* by 2015, there will be a 13% increase in coal use
Hydro power:
* a renewable source of energy
* by 2030, renewable sources of energy will account for 21% of electricity generation worldwide
Natural gas:
* high efficiency with relatively low carbon content
* the US has reserves projected to last 100 years at current rates of use
Nuclear power:
* 436 plants in 30 countries provide 15% of electrical power worldwide
* no carbon emissions
Petroleum:
* primary energy source for transportation
* by 2015, there will be a 6.6% increase in oil/liquid fuels use
Solar power:
* total energy from the sun is 454 times annual global energy consumption
* US demand has grown 25% per year for the last 15 years
Wind power:
* now represents 1.5% of global power sources
* the World Wind Energy Institute predicts that wind could provide 12% of total energy by 2020

This was how I did with my city, which I called CINE19VILLE (and I was trying to be so careful!):