Climate Change Awareness and Adaptation Practices of Student Teachers in the University of Eastern Philippines

Climate change has broad adverse impacts. It affects not only our environment, but also economic and social development. Developing countries are generally warmer, more prone to rainfall variability, more dependent on agriculture the most climate sensitive of economic sectors as a result of low income have limited risk mitigation infrastructure. It brings with it increasing incidence of disease, and declining agricultural productivity the ensuing climatic ravages have been recorded as intense severe weather events _ rainfall, drought, floods, heat waves; the increment environmental changes result to landslides, salination, changes in season patterns, soil erosion, species loss, etc. There are likely to result in deteriorating livelihood, which impact upon household expenditure on schooling and nutritional status of children school weather events _ rainfall, drought, floods, heat waves; the increment environmental changes result to landslides, salination, changes in season patterns, soil erosion, species loss, etc. There are likely to result in deteriorating livelihood, which impact upon household expenditure on schooling and nutritional status of children school abseentism and dropouts are higher in flood prone areas. Flooding also inhibits completion of school programs. These are the reasons why everyone should respond to his challenge. This study determined the climate change awareness and adaptation practices of students in the University of Eastern Philippines. Specifically, it aimed to: 1. ) determine the level of climate change awareness of the students; 2. ) determine the level of adaptation practices of the respondents; and 3. ) know what prompted the involvement in climate change adaptation of the respondents. The respondents were composed of students and teachers in the university. Complete enumeration was done because of limited number of respondents. Descriptive method was used to determine the prevailing condition on the awareness, practices, and adaptation on climate change among the respondents. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used to gather necessary variables. The result shoed that some elements of climate change are better understood than others. In a further indication of the lack of basic scientific knowledge which can help to build a more grounded and robust understanding of climate change, these future teachers struggle significantly with an understanding of the basic concepts of climate and weather. In an indication of the confusion surrounding the concept of climate change adaptation, almost half of students correctly identified that climate is a term used to describe average weather over a prolonged period of time. When combining the elements which reflect on climate/weather and ocean science, only half of students answered this combination of questions correctly. In respect to awareness of perhaps less specific elements of climate change which relate to causes of climate change, students generally had a better understanding, but exceptions are common. In questioning students about the causes of climate change, students again return a high number of incorrect or dont know choices to questions which would be deemed more scientific such as those relating to acid rain, fossil fuels and the ozone layer. Alarmingly, less than half of the surveyed student-teachers identified the combustion of fossil fuel as a contributor to climate change. However, the large number of students who exhibit confusion in respect to these elements of climate change knowledge are well documented in a number of similar studies (Rajeev Gowda et al, 2013). It could be argued that the strong links between climate change, acid rain and ozone layer depletion are to blame for these misunderstandings. It would appear that more direct human interferences with our atmosphere such as the effects of cutting down trees and industry on climate change are better understood among the college student-teachers population sampled.