The perception of Romanian college students regarding climate change
[Full text]
Luiza Nistor [1]
| Abstract: People are starting to notice the effects of climate change more and more in their daily lives. People must be aware of their behaviors and how they affect the environment as long as they are trying to reduce climate change. People don’t realize how their actions affect the environment or how they can help lessen the effects of climate change because they don’t have clear and accurate understanding about the causes and solutions to the problem. The purpose of this study is to determine how young people perceive climate change in a number of ways, including their perspectives, opinions, and beliefs about its causes, effects and solutions; their level of knowledge about the tactics of international climate actors; their involvement in and opinions about the necessity of these actions; and their perceptions of the importance of environmental and climate education in schools. The results show that the majority of respondents think that economic activity and human activity are the primary causes of climate change and that it is currently a severe concern. Nearly half of respondents consider that they are not affected by climate change now, despite the fact that the majority of them think it will have an impact on their lives in the future. The respondents are in favor of tougher sanctions and penalties for environmental crimes, as well as the creation of an Environmental Court in Romania to handle such cases. The majority of respondents believe they know very little about global climate actors and initiatives. The respondents claim to have a high or very high level of knowledge about climate change mitigation, deforestation, flooding, deforestation, desertification, and extreme weather occurrences. Keywords: Climate change; Questionnaire; Perceptions; Knowledge; Education; |
[1] Doctoral School of Sociology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, luizanistor11@gmail.com.