What is Climate Change and Climate Change Education?

Climate vs weather

Two other factors that are important to address in climate education are the difference between climate and weather, and the fact that climate change is not a new phenomenon. Climate and weather are obviously related, but to speak with reasonable certainty about climate, it requires a 30-year average of temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. Students also need to know that climate change is normal here on Earth; climate has always changed.

As temperature is a key component in climate, temperature change is obviously closely related to climate change. Currently the Earth is experiencing a global warming. Basically there are only three ways to increase temperature on Earth, eg. Global warming:

1. ‘Turn up the Sun’ (Humans can’t do that)
2. ‘Turn up the greenhouse effect’ (Humans can partly do that - can be done by human emissions of greenhouse gases)
3. ‘Turn down the planetary albedo’ (Human can (in lesser extend) do that, or indirectly do that)

So, even though nature can and will cause climate change, the current global warming is of great concern because it is primarily man-made and it is happening at an unprecedented rate.

Climate issues vs environmental issues

The concept of climate and climate change is occasionally understood to broadly. However, environmental issues is not the same as climate issues, although some environmental challenges may help to reinforce the climate challenge.

In the past there has been an overall subject approach to climate education. A more modern and motivating approach to climate education is based more on the perspective and action-oriented with relation to climate change.

Modern climate change education should be based more on issues that qualify pupils to take a stand on the interaction between nature, technology and man - and to act on the societal and ethical challenges linked to this interaction. Pupils should therefore work more on a mission, with authentic problems. It is important that students can see themselves in climate change education. The research-based knowledge is of course the starting point for the teaching, but students should experience opportunities for action based on their acquired science capital. They need to become action-oriented climate actors, especially in their own daily lives and local areas, but also understand that they are a piece of the bigger picture. It is clear that it is us humans who are causing the current climate changes, therefore we also have the duty to act. We humans have created the problem, but we do also have the solutions.

Below are listed some attention points that the teacher should be aware of when students select and carry out their missions related to various aspects of climate change.

Be careful that students do not 'fall into the trap' of selecting environmental issues in the belief that they are climate change issues;

Environmental issues not (directly) caused by climate change

• Pandemic (e.g. COVID-19)
• Groundwater pollution
• River pollution
• Micro plastics in food chains and food
• Emission from factories etc.
• Air pollution (e.g. SMOG)
• Poor management of local waste/waste disposal.
• Cutting down forests
• Hole in the ozone layer