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Knowledge In California Water Wars By Josh Viers

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What is knowledge and why is it important? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, knowledge can be defined as “the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association…” (“Knowledge”). While this definition is quite straightforward, there is some implications behind this definition. Knowledge can be a powerful tool that can be used to stop bad things from happening or to foster good things, depending on how the knowledge understood is used and applied. Throughout the entirety of Core, knowledge has been the foundation of every unit, something that has been constantly lectured on and discussed in the discussion sections. Usually, the more something is talked about, the more important that something …show more content…

In fact, the only power of knowledge lies in the ability to use and implement that knowledge. Simply stated, knowledge can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you use it. Arguably, the inherent purpose and power of knowledge lies in the ability to use that knowledge to make good changes to things around you. The “Individuals and Societies” module explored the implications of knowledge and how we should use knowledge to make changes with respect to our water crisis. In Josh Viers lecture entitled “California Water Wars,” he presented the fact that California, more specifically, is facing a water crisis. Viers states that one reason for this water crisis is the phenomenon of the Sierra Nevada facing monumental shifts in climate change. He posits that the Nevada is shifting from a snow-dominated to rain dominated flow regime, that there is now an earlier timing of snowmelt, and that there are now longer dry seasons (Viers). The purpose of this lecture was two-fold, to inform us about our current and past actions and to warn us that changes need to be made to prevent the exacerbation of our water crisis. Viers urged us to look at the data and see that our actions …show more content…

Not only should we want to make a change, we are obligated to make a change. One such case includes the gold rush of 1858. Peggy O’Day lectured on the gold rush and how our actions had monumental effects on the environment then and how those actions still have a lasting impact on the environment now. Peggy delved into how our excessive use of water and destruction of the landscape led to widespread issues of water pollution and water scarcity. By flooding the hillsides and then taking the sediment and releasing it in the river, the water was rendered unfit for drinking. Many small towns relied on these rivers as a main source of drinking water and were thus put in a state of panic because of the dearth of clean water. Furthermore, the mining process required a lot of timber, so miners exploited the forests and cut down nearly one-third of all the timber (O’Day). Not only did the mining process kill a lot of vegetation, but it also forced animals to leave their habitats, placing those animals in danger of facing starvation and potential extinction. Many of these destroyed habitats and ecosystems can still be seen today, which serves as a reminder of how we should and need to make changes to how we do things. Peggy implicitly implied in her lecture that we need to not only be cognizant of how mining works, but also be aware of the fact that we cannot make the same mistakes with

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