Climate Change Topics Research Articles

Climate change in Canadian civil engineering curricula: gaps and best practices

This study examines the state of curricula, knowledge, and practices in Canada’s civil engineering programs with respect to climate change, identifies best practices, and formulates recommendations on ways to improve climate change knowledge and skills training for Canadian civil engineering programs. A survey based on the Climate Framework was distributed to 856 civil engineering instructors across all 25 accredited engineering schools listed by Engineers Canada and gathered data on 55 civil engineering climate change related courses, with representation from 20 out of the 25 accredited programs across the country. The results of this study provide important benchmarks to help instructors incorporate most relevant climate change topics and resources into their courses for equipping civil engineering students with the necessary skills to tackle emerging challenges related to the mitigation of climate change and adaptation to wildfires, droughts, sea level rise, increased precipitation, storms, heat domes, floods, earthquakes, and biodiversity loss.

Becoming a Climate Change Educator: First-grade Pupils’ Action Research

This paper presents the results of the action research conducted by the research team in 2022-2023 with first-grade pupils at one Vilnius primary school in Lithuania. Primary, the action research aimed to improve the teaching practice of a primary school teacher on the topic of climate change and also develop her professional competence in climate change education; secondary, stimulate the learning process and possible actions for first-grade children on tackling climate change. The study reveals the learning process of the primary school teacher who integrated a series of 14 climate change lessons the research team created, her learning outcomes, and the main challenges she faced during the process. The results highlight specific changes that are taking place in the teacher‘s daily practice that are also undoubtedly leading to an increase in first-grade pupils‘ awareness of climate change topics. The study highlights a key aspect: becoming a climate change educator means developing her professional competence to work on climate change and developing a personal relationship with climate change phenomenon that moves beyond the classroom environment. The development of a personal relationship with climate change brings to the forefront the teacher‘s awareness of the need for climate change education at school to reduce the destructive activities of human beings in relation to the planet and mitigate the effects of human-induced climate change.

Climate Imaginaries and the Linguistic Construction of Identities on Social Media

This article takes a linguistic approach to the construction of group identities in relation to climate imaginaries, which condition what climate futures are considered possible. It employs social identity theory along with methods from Sociolinguistics and Discourse Linguistics to analyse patterns of positioning and stance-taking in social media discourse (Twitter/X, Instagram). By identifying typical multimodal practices at a micro level, as well as introducing five functional meta categories (›awareness, advice, and agitation‹, ›ritualised appreciation‹, ›solidarity and allyship, ›voice and advocacy‹, and ›community demarcation‹), the research investigates how digital discourse reflects and shapes group identities related to climate change topics. It thereby offers insights into the role of language in co-producing climate imaginaries in digitally shared environments.

An Analysis of K–12 Climate Change Science Standards in the United States

Abstract To produce a climate-literate society willing to take action, students must be educated on the causes, changes, impacts, and solutions of climate change. One way to ensure students are educated on climate change is to have robust science standards. However, little is known about the collective climate change standards in the United States. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of the U.S. K–12 science standards to uncover where the climate change standards are located in different grade levels and the extent to which the collective U.S. curriculum covers topics of climate change. This study was a qualitative content analysis of the U.S. K–12 climate change standards. The results show that most U.S. climate change standards are found within the high school grade levels and Earth and space science domains. All U.S. states address topics of climate change within their standards; however, general mentions of climate change were cited most often. Finally, the majority of states address both natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change. Implications for policymakers and educators are included.

CLIMATE-RELATED DISCUSSIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA: CRITICAL LESSONS FOR POLICYMAKERS

Abstract Climate change is a complex global issue that requires widespread understanding, support and collaboration for effective solutions. This research delves into the crucial role of communication in tackling climate change and reaching net-zero goals. Leveraging advanced machine learning techniques, we focus on 10 core climate change topics derived from social media conversations over time. This analysis underscores the importance of a holistic and interconnected approach, involving a diverse array of policies at local, national and global levels to combat climate change effectively and attain net-zero objectives. We offer key policy suggestions that can significantly contribute to this vital cause.

Modeling Climate Change Issues in Indonesia Based on Media Headlines

Climate change has become a global issue affecting all countries in the last decades. This phenomenon poses a concern to Indonesia as it is one of the climate change’s epicenters. Various studies have shown that climate change can harm multiple community activities, such as unstable agricultural production, decreased people’s health, and global warming. This study tried to model and analyze climate change topics discussed in the media. Finding hidden topics from texts can provide clues and information regarding public conversation surrounding climate change, such as public thoughts, perceptions, and readiness to mitigate the possible adverse effects of climate change. In order to identify hidden subjects from the corpus, this work modeled climate change issues in Indonesia using the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) algorithm to analyze texts from Indonesian media headlines. As many as 7,000 headline data from five online media were collected from 2017 to 2021 using web scraping techniques. The proposed approach produced eight topics related to climate change, which were determined by the highest coherence value of 0.560. Those topics were renewable energy, carbon emissions, environmental management, development economics, international cooperation, policy/regulation, rehabilitation, and disaster. Based on the results, the model could sufficiently describe the theme of discussion in society and photograph public thoughts and the government’s readiness in the form of policies and regulations in dealing with the climate change phenomenon.

International collaboration and connections through design thinking: A case study of the Global Classroom for Democracy Innovation (GCDI)

This paper is based on the collaborative development of the Global Classroom for Democracy Innovation (GCDI), and its month-long virtual pilot workshop, the 'Climate Change Design Jam’. The GCDI is an integrated learning partnership between three international universities located in Canada, South Africa, and Sweden, and civil society partners the Vancouver Design Nerds (VDN). Each partner brought unique skills to the GCDI, as new processes and methods for virtual, global student engagement and dialogue were co-designed. The GCDI hosted the Climate Change Design Jam over four consecutive weeks in March 2022. By employing a design thinking methodology, it facilitated online student project development around the interconnected and broad topics of climate change and democracy. Students and student facilitators were guided through the process of design thinking to develop grounded projects that address climate change issues locally and internationally. This paper argues that fundamental principles of fostering genuine connections (both 'online' and 'offline') between students can act as a useful foundation from which project development can be based. Further, this paper illustrates that when faced with 'wicked problems’ such as climate change and challenges to democracy worldwide design thinking methods and collaborative approaches can act as a catalyst for action (Manzini, 2015). Exploring political theory, democracy, and civic agency through dialogue and co-design provides students with innovative approaches to research, critical thinking, and activism. This pilot series provides insight into student engagement across international contexts, and thus the development of cross-cultural and collective intelligence which can be formative for similar projects in the future (Behari-Leak, 2020).

Environmental Education: A Systematic Review on the Use of Digital Tools for Fostering Sustainability Awareness

Recently, sustainable development practices have increased attention as climate change and environmental impacts have increased. Interventions to encourage sustainability awareness are developing, so fostering them through education is crucial. Evidence-based studies conducted in this field have suggested the use of different digital tools to promote environmental learning gains and to foster better sustainability awareness among students. Following the PRISMA method, we found 21 articles published between 2013 and 2023 showing an interest in the use of digital tools in environmental education to foster sustainability awareness among learners. Findings indicate that virtual reality tools and climate change topics are the most trending in this research area. Further, the results show a positive impact of the use of digital tools on students’ concern for the sustainability of the planet.

Exploring the relationship between nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change and their psychological distress: a cross-national investigation

BackgroundClimate change poses a worldwide challenge with anticipated exacerbation in the future, resulting in irreversible consequences. Nursing students may be vulnerable to experiencing psychological effects associated with climate change.AimThe current study aimed to investigate the relationship between nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes toward climate change and their psychological distress.MethodThis descriptive cross-sectional study recruited 377 nursing students from three universities located in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt in the Middle East. Data collection was conducted using scales for assessing nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change and their psychological distress. Correlations were assessed and multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the predictors of students’ psychological distress.ResultsThe current study showed that knowledge regarding climate change significantly and positively correlated to the attitude toward climate change (r = 0.213), then again, the score of psychological distress significantly and negatively correlated to the score of students’ knowledge and attitude regarding climate change (r = − 0.182 and − 0.110 respectively). Regression analyses showed that academic achievement had the strongest positive impact on students’ psychological distress, while knowledge regarding climate change and attitude toward climate change had negative impacts (β = 0.381, β=-0.205, and β=-0.045 respectively). Moreover, knowledge and attitude regarding climate change were found to be significant predictors of students’ psychological distress, collectively accounting for 18.2% of the observed variance.Conclusions/Implication for future practiceThe findings highlight the importance of incorporating climate change into nursing education programs. By enhancing nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change, there is potential to reduce their psychological distress. This study underscores the need for curriculum reforms that integrate climate change topics, aiming to foster a well-informed and resilient future nursing workforce.

Impact of Argument-Driven Inquiry Activities on Pre-service Science Teachers’ Views of the Nature of Scientific Inquiry in the Context of Climate Change Education

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate how argument-driven inquiry (ADI) activities impact pre-service teachers’ views of the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI), with a specific focus on climate change. To this end, an ADI approach was used to teach climate change, where the aspects of NOSI were explicitly taught. A sample of 24 pre-service teachers participated in a science project which included ADI sessions addressing climate change topics. The pre-service teachers participated in four ADI activities related to rising sea levels, clean water resources, extreme weather events, and zero energy building. The sessions involved explicit instruction on NOSI to enhance pre-service teachers’ understanding. A view of scientific inquiry (VOSI) questionnaire was used to investigate pre-service teachers’ views of scientific inquiry before and after the instruction. The results of the study showed that the pre-service teachers improved in all six aspects of NOSI, but higher improvements were observed in the aspects “multiple methods of scientific investigations” and “distinctions between data and evidence.”

Integrating Resilience Considerations into English Language Teaching in the Context of Climate Change

This article explores the integration of resilience considerations into English Language Teaching (ELT) within the context of climate change. It emphasizes the critical intersection of ELT with climate change education and delineates strategies for incorporating resilience-focused approaches into language learning curricula. By examining the importance of resilience in addressing climate challenges, the article highlights key components and urgent calls for collective action. It delineates opportunities for integrating climate change topics into language learning, promoting critical thinking, global citizenship, and empathy among learners. Despite challenges such as diverse learner needs and language barriers, educators are encouraged to navigate these obstacles creatively. Through inclusive teaching practices and authentic learning experiences, ELT can empower learners to become informed advocates for environmental resilience and sustainability. This article underscores the educational imperative of integrating resilience into ELT, fostering a resilient future for generations to come.

Climate Change Education in Afghanistan High School Curriculum: Depictions of the Causes, Impacts and Solutions

Climate change education is crucial for equipping students with the knowledge to address environmental challenges. This study analyzes climate change education in Afghanistan's high school curriculum. Using content analysis, the research identifies climate change topics in geography, biology, and chemistry syllabi for grades 10 to 12. The study focuses on causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change and examines topic distribution across grades. The findings reveal that climate change-related topics are included in the geography, biology, and chemistry curriculums. In the geography curriculum, climate change topics are prevalent, constituting 6% of the content. However, in biology, the coverage is relatively lower at 3%. In chemistry, there is only one topic in 12th grade related to climate change. Notably, the 10th and 12th grade exhibits a more significant emphasis on climate change topics in geography and biology respectively. These findings raise important considerations for climate change education in Afghanistan. While progress has been made in integrating climate change topics into the curriculum, there is a need for further attention and balance across subject areas and grade levels. Enhancing the coverage of climate change topics, particularly in science subjects, can significantly contribute to fostering a comprehensive understanding of the issue among students. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers, curriculum developers, and educators in Afghanistan to strengthen climate change education within the high school curriculum.

Drawing the Linkage Between Women's Reproductive Health, Climate Change, Natural Disaster, and Climate-driven Migration: Focusing on Low- and Middle-income Countries - A Systematic Overview.

One of the most important aspects of women's well-being and welfare is RSH (reproductive and sexual health). Reproductive health is not an exception to the threat that CCC (climate change and climate crisis) poses to numerous facets of public health. Firstly, the present review seeks to identify the influence of climatic changes, natural disasters, and climate-driven migration on RSH. Secondly, to identify knowledge gaps regarding the same. Two databases (Scopus and PubMed) were scanned using Boolean operation. The literature search aimed to find records pertaining to topics of RSH and climate change. Using the PRISMA-ScR method, records were screened and shortlisted based on established inclusion criteria. This literature search was carried out in November 2022. In the shortlisted records, preference for the comprehensive review articles was given. The present review is based on 38 records that collectively revealed that climate crisis and natural disasters have many negative impacts on female reproductive health. These effects are observed in different phases of life, ranging from teenage to menopause. The unique strength of the present review is that it draws a relationship between female reproductive health and the direct as well as indirect effects of the CCC. The available literature about LMICs is predominantly confined to drought, flood, and earthquake. Disasters like tsunamis, cyclones, and avalanches remain unexplored. From the available literature, it is quite evident that CCC has an adverse effect on a woman's reproductive life as well as a bearing on future generations' health. Filling these knowledge gaps is pivotal for designing more effective disaster and health policies. Policymakers should take into consideration these detrimental effects while designing health schemes and policies for females.

Assessing Secondary High School Student Needs for Descriptive Texts Concerning Climate Change

Addressing Indonesia's vulnerability to climate-related disasters, this study explores the development of English reading materials on climate change for secondary high school students. The goal is to tailor these materials to the students' specific needs, considering their English proficiency levels and the challenges they face in reading comprehension. Through a mixed-method approach involving questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study captures insights from students, English teachers, and stakeholders. The findings highlight the critical role of English in students' future careers. However, most students are beginners in English, and they experience significant difficulties in understanding reading materials. There is a clear need for descriptive texts that are accessible at their English level and integrate climate change topics relevant to their context. The study identifies a gap in current educational resources, emphasizing the necessity of incorporating climate change content in a manner that both informs and is comprehensible to students. In conclusion, this study advocates for the creation of supplementary descriptive texts about climate change, customized to align with the students' linguistic abilities and educational curriculum. This initiative aims not only to enhance students' English skills but also to increase their awareness and understanding of crucial environmental issues.

Learning and Teaching of Climate Change, Sustainability and Disaster Risk Reduction in Teacher Education in England and Japan

Abstract This paper reports the study which explored the learning and teaching of the topics of climate change, sustainability and disaster risk reduction in secondary-level teacher education programs in England and Japan. Through interviewing teacher educators, the study particularly probed how teacher education programs used local knowledge and collaboration in discussing the above topics. Geography tends to be the main subject area for these global agendas, but its crammed curriculum is “an ongoing challenge” for teacher education. Some researchers demonstrate that university-based initial teacher education has “ignored” training teachers on how to implement environmental and sustainability education at schools. Besides, the inquiries into how initial teacher education equips geography teachers for the learning and teaching of disaster risk reduction are still scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by bringing together the fields of geography education, climate change and sustainability education, disaster risk reduction education and initial teacher education.

A systems thinking approach to e-learning on climate change: capacity-building for junior high school teachers in the Philippines

PurposeA mixed-method study was performed to determine the impact of integrating systems thinking (ST) into an electronic learning module for junior high school teachers in the Philippines. The study aims to assess how an ST approach to pedagogy compared against a conventional approach in terms of contribution to the participants’ global climate change content knowledge, holistic thinking and depth and accuracy of knowledge and reasoning.Design/methodology/approachThe study implemented e-learning modules using an ST approach versus a conventional approach in teaching climate science to junior high school teachers. The paper presents quantitative data obtained from pre and posttests results of the 20 teacher-participants and qualitative data obtained during the focus-group discussion (FGD) after the implementation of the study.FindingsThe results from the statistical analysis indicated that the ST group obtained a significant increase in their assessment scores compared to the non-ST group, according to predetermined criteria. Content knowledge, depth and accuracy of knowledge and reasoning increased the most. The participants mentioned during the FGD that the module helped deepen their understanding of climate change.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to 20 teacher-participants, but it has relevance for public school teachers in the country given that participants had raised concerns regarding the lack of training in their schools for teaching climate science. They admitted that they lacked critical information to include in climate change topics in their classes.Originality/valueThis paper shows how the ST approach can be used to teach climate change to junior high students. The e-learning module can provide teachers with better understanding, knowledge and reasoning to teach climate change to high school students more effectively.

Agricultural drought in the context of climate change: a bibliometric analysis

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the scientific studies carried out about agricultural drought in the context of climate change reported in the last ten years. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on the bibliographic review of the referential database Scopus® using the concepts “agricultural drought”, “vulnerability” and “climate change”. Results: In the last ten years (2014-2022) the United States, China and United Kingdom stood out in publications on the topic, which are focused on Environmental sciences (33%), Agricultural sciences (22%), Earth sciences (13%), and Social sciences (12%). Findings/conclusions: The studies published are isolated and there is no conection between the large topics of drought, climate change and vulnerability, thus detecting an area of opportunity to carry out research that unifies these topics.

Promoting Student Performance in STEM EDP Model on Climate Change Topics

Performance assessment is an authentic assessment that can be done with various kinds of assessments such as written assessments, observation, and assignments that can provide better feedback on performance and skills. Learning using STEM-EDP model is a learning that encourage students enggagement and in line with performance assessment. The topic in this lesson is climate change, that is relate with with global issue and suitable for STEM-EDP learning. The purpose of this study was to find out how the performance assesment category of class VII F students at Public Junior Highschool in Samarinda. This research uses a quantitative descriptive approach. The sample of this research was 31 students who were taken by cluster random sampling technique. The instruments used in this study were student worksheets and student performance rubrics. The results of the study obtained a process performance value of 78.3 and 78.6 which describes the process performance in the good category. The product performance values are 81.3 and 83.9 which fall into the very good category.The performance of students need to be promoted by more STEM EDP learning especially in junior high school level.

Green Deal and Climate Pact as a Lighthouse and for Public Health in Europe

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the European Green Deal (EGD). The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% states to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the population digitally. The PH mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. EGD and European Climate Pact (ECP) are a lighthouse for priorities and actions in PH, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. The ECP is an opportunity for citizens but especially for health professionals, to participate in climate action across Europe, to learn about climate change, develop and implement solutions. As part of the EGD, ECP aims to become a space to act on the climate crisis, and offer support for a European climate movement but also to health care professionals to act and implement innovative solutions. ECP and role of Climate pact Ambassadors give opportunities for actions in health care and wider. EGD is a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members. The PH sector should involve the EGD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national PH policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of public health interests and sustainability into all health policies. Achieving goals requires more environmentally education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, PH digitalization and air pollution to a much greater extent.

Parents’ Perspectives on Climate Change Education: A Case Study From New Jersey

Purpose With climate change education becoming more prevalent in schools around the globe, it is increasingly important that we understand parental perspectives on this topic. Children cross the boundaries between home and school culture every day, and their parents’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices can influence their academic engagement in all content areas. In the 2022–2023 academic year, New Jersey (NJ) adopted climate change education standards across grade levels and subject areas. We seek to understand parental perspectives on this curriculum change. Design/Approach/Methods In October–November 2022, a survey was distributed to parents of children attending public (state) school in NJ to identify how they discuss, support, and question their children's education about climate change. A total of 83 parents responded to the survey. Findings Survey results revealed that parents talk to their children about climate change with the support of various tools and strategies. However, parents expressed concerns about teachers’ preparedness to introduce climate change topics appropriately and their own readiness to support this instruction at home. Furthermore, several respondents voiced concerns about how to approach climate change discussions in a way that is mindful of children's developmental and mental health needs. Originality/Value Little is known about the way in which parents view educational innovations affect their implementation. This study examines parents’ perspectives on a novel approach to integrating climate change instruction across subject areas and grade levels.