Your guide to Climate Change Education (CCE)

Q1. Is there really any climate change happenning?

Ans. Earth was formed almost 4.5 billion years ago. Over these 4500 million years the Earth (and its climate) has changed tremendously and has become habitable for human beings. What is different is that while earlier the global as well as regional climate has changed on very long time scales, this has been happenning very frequently now. The current warming of Earth is happenning at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.”

It is undeniable that human activities have produced the atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun’s energy in the Earth system. This extra energy has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land, and widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred.

New technologies as well data from the satellites have provided more information about the climate that scientist have used to study the patterns of the changing climate.

Q2. How do scientists know what the Earth’s climate was like millions of years ago? How are they able to compare the frequency of climate changes across millenia?

Ans: Paleoclimatology is the study of climate records from hundreds to millions of years ago. Information for these studies come from natural records rather than instruments: these indirect records of climatic conditions are called proxy records. Some natural processes not only record the passage of time but also preserve information about them. Scientists study and decode this climate information from natural data centers like trees, glacial rock deposits, layers of sediments.

If you are interested in learning more about Paleoclimatology, go here.

Q3. What are some of the key evidences of climate change that scientists rely on?

Ans: As per scientists, these changes are due to human activities that have released unsustainable amounts of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere. There is overwhelming evidence that our climate is changing and that anthropogenic factors are chiefly responsbile for this climate change.

Let’s look at the following key evidences that scientists have provided. However, these are not the only evidences. Recently, through the use of attribution science, the scientists and researchers have also begun to attribute extreme weather events to climate change. Similarly, the vast depletion in the number of species over the past few decades have also been attributed to human activity.

Global Temperature Is Rising

Planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities

The Ocean Is Getting Warmer

The ocean has absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 100 meters (about 328 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.33 degrees Celsius since 1969. Earth stores 90% of the extra energy in the ocean

The Ice Sheets Are Shrinking

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data show Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019, while Antarctica lost about 148 billion tons of ice per year

Snow Cover Is Decreasing

Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and the snow is melting earlier

Glaciers Are Retreating

Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa

Sea Level Is Rising

Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year

Arctic Sea Ice Is Declining

Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades

Extreme Events Are Increasing in Frequency

The number of record high temperature events have been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events have been decreasing, since 1950. Various regions have also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events

Ocean Acidification Is Increasing

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30%. This increase is due to humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the ocean.

Some more images here.

Q4. Ok, agreed that our climate and the Earth as we know are changing. How does Climate Change Education (CCE) fit in? What will climate change education do?

Ans. Scientists have shown that human activity is mainly responsible for the global warming and climate change. What if all humans were made aware of the challenges that we face? Will awareness lead to empowerment and change?

We hope and we believe that through climate change education (cce), we can make the current and future generations not just aware of the climate change issues and challenges but we can also empower them to take collective action that can push the needle on environmental sustainability. People need information, knowledge, as well as wisdom to adapt to the harsh realities of climate change and the future that will unfold.

A mass movement is required to change the state of the environment caused by global warming induced climate change. This mass movement has to be a knowledge-driven phenomenon where technology can play a supportive role. As humans, and as perpetrators of the current challenges faced by our habitat, we need to step up and take responsibilty to change.

Change needs understanding. Change needs awareness. Change requires wisdom. Change requires active pause. Climate Change Education will help us change.

Q5. Do global multilateral organizations share the view about Climate Change Education (CCE)?

Ans. Most certainly. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 is dedicated to climate action.

TAKE URGENT ACTION TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS

Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

Q6. What about the Indian government? Is Climate Change Education (CCE) a priority for Indian government?

Ans: The recent New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, talk about Environmental Science (EVS) education and how it shall be taken up in the schools. However, it lacks urgency. It is more informational in its approach.

CCE is a step-up on the EVS education, in that it is more urgent in its focus. It empowers the students specifically around climate change and the actions needed from each one of us. CCE helps not just inform, but empowers to adapt and take action. CCE is in that sense more specific, more urgent, more empowering and more change inducing.

Sources: NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/evidence/

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