My absence from writing the past few months is only partly explained by the fact that spring, summer, and fall bring about extraordinary responsibilities and time demands, demands which, I’m sure, everyone reading this can relate to. It’s not for a lack of available material on global warming. On the contrary, part of the problem-is too much material from one source-newspapers.
To be perfectly honest a major obstacle revolves around convinceability. Another corollary to COVID-19. Either you accept and believe it’s real or you don’t and little I write can change people’s minds. However, there is a middle ground, a third alternative, and that is, acknowledgement that it exists but denial that it is anthropogenic. I’m sure you know which side of the fence I reside.
If your position is on the other side, then you may also believe that man never set foot on the moon and That President Kennedy survived the gunshot wounds and lived incognito for several years. According to Elizabeth Watts in an article in the American Biology Teacher journal 70% of Americans acknowledge that climate change is occurring and believe it will cause future generations harm. In the same article, while less than 30% of Americans say they are greatly concerned about climate change 72% of those individuals are Democrats and 24% are Republicans. Does that remind you of a point I made in a recent essay on vaccines? Five years ago I would have found that hard to believe but not so today. By the way, in a report I read recently, 40% of people worldwide have never heard of climate change.
Many people reject climate change for religious reasons. They may believe that God gave us the earth to use as we see fit or that God won’t allow such harmful occurrences to happen While 97% of all Americans are aware that global warming is taking place, only 49% believe that rising temperatures are human caused. Thus, while Americans are ahead in awareness (third worldwide), there is a huge gap between recognition and blame assessment. There is a large gap between awareness and our ability to mitigate climate change. Bridging the gap will require ingenuity in education. The sad part is that many people either don’t realize the damage already done or refuse to believe it’s seriousness, Consider in the above example, that they believe “future generations” will be harmed while ignoring the carbon footprint the present generation is leaving. (Watts, 2019) According to economist John List, the problem resides in the perception of the immediate costs with the projected benefit 50 – 200 years in the future. List believes you can change beliefs-but over generations not overnight. Additionally, where the public gets their information is extremely important. Most people get most of their information from social media that is, from indirect, informal, and mediated sources. (This time I refer you back to Essay XXXVIII). International agencies such as UNESCO have recognized the need for better educational programs such as Sustainable Development. A program the Climate Change Education Act (CCEA) was recommended to Congress in 2016. Such a program would be in line with the earlier cited data in which 82% of surveyed Americans supported increased research into renewable sources of energy. However, as of May 2016 the date this article was written, that bill never passed. Even though public opinion is split on such anthropogenic influence, a significant majority agrees that climate change should be an integral part of school curricula.(Watts,2019)
A comprehensive study by Pennsylvania State University concluded that 70% of surveyed middle science teachers and 87% of high school biology teachers report that they teach climate change in their classes (average time about 4 classes). At least that is a start. Sounds encouraging, yet how the subject is presented remains unclear since that was not in the research. For example, the National Earth Science Teachers Association found that 47% of teachers were teaching both sides of the climate change debate rather than as clear evidence in the affirmative. No mention was made of whether the “human imprint” was stressed or even mentioned.
In Watt’s concluding remarks she proposes a strategy for effective teaching about climate change. In it she strongly emphasizes a methodology that stresses the nature of science in a straightforward manner in which students can make scientific evidence-based judgments for themselves rather than forced learning and rote memorization. I couldn’t agree more. For a complete summary of the nature of science scroll all the way back to Essay II and for past essays on global warming see Essays XII through XVIII.
References
Watts, E. Teaching Climate Change to Increase Understanding & Reflectivity, The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 81, No 5 May, 2019
Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents, Featured image credit to Beach, R. etal,, Routledge, May 23, 2017