• TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      In my geography class, we were taught about how weather and climate happens. Geography has as much influence on it as physics. So whenever someone points out why it is so cold if there is global warming, I teach them that warming temperatures fuels warm high pressure areas, which pushes out colder low pressure area. For example, if the American East Coast is experiencing extremely cold temperatures, the other side of the Atlantic would be experiencing warmer but rainy intense storms because the high pressure area is pushing the colder low pressure area to the US East Coast. As you can see, extreme weathers will only get worse because of climate change as the world gets warmer.

      But I think the most practical everyday geography knowledge for people is knowing why the taste of tap water sucks. Just know that areas with limestone bedrocks have water that taste better. Limestone is full of calcium and other minerals, and filters groundwater quite well unlike in areas that have igneous rocks such as basalt or granite.

      I don’t want to sound like I’m pontificating but I believe it’s important to have as much general knowledge as possible because you never know when those knowledge might have practical utility one day. You don’t have to memorise all the knowledge you learn, but it’s good if you can keep them at the back of your mind in case they are needed one day. But on the one hand, yeah there are more immediate practical concerns that requires more specific knowledge. Knowing about Jupiter will not fix a pipe leak in your kitchen. It’s about having the balance and knowing when to use seemingly useless knowledge, and what knowledge you need to use for more practical cases. Overall though, it’s better to have broad knowledge as it makes you more impervious to misinformation.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Well I learned about the atmosphere and ozone in science and chemistry classes and I learned math in Physics, and Meteorology should be a completely distinct subject from just naming municipal districts on a map.