This handout image provided by NASA, taken in 2012, shows citylights worldwide. People are changing Earth so much with global warming and other pollution that many scientists are turning to a new way to describe the time we live in. They’re calling it the Anthropocene _ the age of humans. Most non-experts don’t realize it, but science calls the time we live in the Holocene, Greek for “entirely recent.” The Holocene started nearly 12,000 years ago. But the way humans and their industries are altering the planet, especially its climate, have caused an increasing number of scientists to use the word Anthropocene to better describe when and where we are. (AP Photo/NASA)
Learning about climate change should not be limited to scientists, policy-makers and advocates, it should also be discussed in the classrooms.
Climate change has been an esoteric issue, thus there is a need to study and discuss it inside the four walls of the classrooms.
During a workshop with Visayas journalists last Monday, Climate Change Commissioner Lucille Sering said education is essential in addressing climate change impacts.
The commission she said is currently discussing with the Department of Education (DepEd) on how to integrate climate change causes and impacts in the Kto12 basic education curriculum.
They are considering to include climate change in the Science subjects.
“Education is key in this battle. We will include climate change in the program and hopefully next year we can introduce this,” Sering said.
Rosa Perez, climate scientist and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said climate change must not only be discussed among scientists but must be mainstreamed for everyone to understand.
“Greenhouse gases is a natural effect but when it is enhanced or amplified by human activities, it becomes a problem as it causes global warming. Climate change is happening and it is driven by humans,” Perez said.
What is climate change for us? Perez explained that Philippines being near the “hatching area” in the Pacific, are affected by the increased intensity of tropical cyclones, Haiyan (Yolanda) included.
Millions of lives were lost and infrastructures were damaged when supertyphoon Yolanda hit the country.
“Climate change will affect sustainable development. But today, we have a choice,” Perez said.
By educating the young and the ordinary citizens on Climate Change adaptation and mitigation, it may help reduce our carbon footprint that causes an increase in temperature.
“We have to reduce temperature so that climate change can be adapted to. If this will not be reduced then there is no amount of adaptation,” Sering said.
Public Information Agency – Central Visayas through their projects has been helping in climate change information and education, Director Minerva Newman said.
“It is indeed a challenge to mainstream climate change. The advocacy campaign of PIA was born out of the problem. We should weaken the public’s apathy on climate change concerns and environmental agenda to make it understandable to the commons,” Newman said.