ISSN- 0301-1216

Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med. Vol. 43 No.4, 2012 AWARENESS OF GLOBAL WARMING AMONG SCHOOL TEACHERS IN COASTAL KARNATAKA 1 SS Hegde , NS Murthy2 , CN Shalini 3, KR Sandeep4 ABSTRACT In recent years, global warming has emerged as a significant threat to the environment. School teachers form a vital link in the delivery of environmental education to the students. The objective of the present study was to assess the awareness on global warming among school teachers in Coastal Karnataka. Teachers (N=504) from 18 schools of primary, middle and high schools were interviewed with a pre-tested and semi structured questionnaire. Statistical significance was considered at P≤ 0.05. Of the 504 school teachers interviewed, 44.6% had adequate level of knowledge while 5.4% were totally unaware of the issue. The practice of environmentally responsible behaviour was not in accordance with the level of knowledge. Negative attitudes towards environment were also prevalent. Significant association of awareness was observed with education level of teachers (P< 0.05). Need exists to impart knowledge and develop positive attitudes on environmental issues among the school teachers . Key Words: Awareness, Global -warming, School teachers, Public, Environment, Education, Karnataka.

INTRODUCTION In recent years global warming has become a big challenge to the world community and

scientific society. It is a

universal problem being associated with an abnormal increase in the level of temperature of the earth and its atmosphere. The global average temperature near Earth’s surface has risen by 0.74 ± 0.18 C during the last 100 years. The Intergovernmental panel on climate change in its climatic models has projected that global surface temperatures is likely 1

to increase by 1.1 to 6.4C between 1990-2100 . The world’s climatic system is fundamental to support life on this planet. Anthropogenic activities are altering the world’s climate by increasing the atmospheric concentration of green house gases, thereby amplifying the natural “green house effect” that makes the earth habitable, leading to detrimental and deleterious effects.

Overall, climatic change is projected to increase threats to human health,

predominantly within tropical and subtropical countries. Climatic change can affect the human health directly, through weather extremes and indirectly, through changes in the ranges of disease vectors, water borne pathogens, outbreak 1

of epidemics, by bringing changes in water quality, air quality and food availability as well as food quality . Climatic changes triggered

by global warming can bring in their wake extreme conditions like storms, drought and floods 2,3

and can be of immediate threat to life . ______________________________ 1. Research Assistant, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore-575 003 2. Professor & Research Co-ordinator 3. Professor, Community Medicine , M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, 560054 and 4. Tutor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore-575 003. Corresponding Author: Dr. N.S.Murthy, Professor & Research Coordinator, Department of Community Medicine, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, MSR Nagar, MSRIT Post, Bangalore – 560 054, India Indexed in : Index Medicus (IMSEAR), INSDOC, NCI Current Content, Database of Alcohol & Drug Abuse, National Database in TB & Allied Diseases, IndMED, Entered in WHO CD ROM for South East Asia.

SS Hegde et al

Awareness of global warming among school teachers

The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment begins at an early age during which the educators play an important role. School systems provide the largest organized sector for imparting education on the environment and initiating action. Teachers play a pivotal role towards such a reform. A few studies have been carried out focusing on awareness and attitudes on global warming amongst school teachers/general public,

4,5,6

in different parts of the world. However, to the best of our knowledge no studies

have been attempted in the southern part of India focusing on awareness and attitude on global warming among school teachers. Thus, the present study was undertaken with the objective of assessing the awareness and attitude towards the issue of global warming among primary, middle and secondary school teachers in Coastal Karnataka.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The present study was carried out in the

city of Mangalore in Coastal Karnataka during May-November7

2010. Mangalore has a highly developed educational system with a literacy rate of 94.03% , as per 2011 census . The sample size for the study was estimated based on an earlier pilot study carried out by the first investigator 8

amongst school teachers which revealed that nearly 47% of school teachers possessed adequate knowledge. With the precision of nearly 10% and desired confidence level of 95%, the required sample size for the present study worked out to be nearly 450 teachers. However keeping an allowance of 10% for non response of the teachers, it was proposed to include 500 teachers for the study. A two stage sampling technique was used. In the first stage, 18 schools from a list of schools registered with the Mangalore Corporation were selected randomly. In stage 2,

504 teachers

from these 18 institutions, were again selected randomly from a consolidated list of teachers. Prior to start of study, permission was sought from the district educational authorities and the principals of the schools. On the appointed day, all the teachers were requested to assemble in the staff room, and the purpose of the study was explained and their co-operation was requested. A pre-tested and semi-structured proforma was developed to collect information and distributed to all the teachers with proper oral instructions to answer the questions. The proforma consisted of questions relating to socio-demographic particulars, 9 questions relating to awareness on knowledge, common causes, consequences of global warming and 5 questions relating to attitudes- Conducting of awareness workshops and seminars for the teachers on this issue as well as on inclusion of this topic as a part of the students syllabus was also discussed. In order to maintain their confidentiality, the teachers were asked not to mention their names on the proforma. Any queries at the time of completing the proforma were answered. Teachers completed the proformae in the presence of the first author. In order to combine the various responses relating to awareness, scores were assigned to each response. A score of 1 was given to each correct response and 0 to each incorrect response. Since the author felt that all the questions were equally important and as such differential weighting was not made. Then the total scores obtained by each teacher were calculated which could have ranged from 0 to a maximum of 9. All the total scores obtained by teachers were graded into three equal groups arbitrarily. Good (score >6), fair (score 4-6) and Poor (50

43

53.8

32

40.0

5

6.3

Male

45

51.7

36

41.4

6

6.9

Female

180

43.2

216

51.8

21

5.0

Graduate and below

94

42.2

116

52.0

13

5.8

Post graduate & above

131

46.6

136

48.4

14

5.0

Primary

65

33.9

112

58.3

15

7.8

Higher Primary

160

51.3

140

44.9

12

3.8

Science

114

48.3

113

47.9

9

3.8

Non- science

111

41.4

139

51.9

18

6.7

P=0.347

P=0.201 P=0.592

P=0.000 P=0.157

DISCUSSION Climatic change can affect the human health directly, through weather extremes and indirectly, through changes in the ranges of disease vectors, water borne pathogens, outbreak of epidemics, by bringing changes in 1

water quality, air quality and food availability as well as food quality . Climatic changes triggered by global warming 2,3

can bring in their wake extreme conditions like storms, drought and floods and can be of immediate threat to life . They can provide a vital link in the delivery of environmental knowledge, its associated problems and their solutions to the general public. In order to hasten their awareness towards climate change it is necessary to know what level of 4

awareness amongst teachers . The findings of the study revealed that 94.6% of the teachers were aware of the issue. However, differences existed regarding the level of awareness with regards to characteristics like class taught by them or subjects taught by them. It was noted that great majority of the teachers, who were teaching in primary scho ols, lacked the knowledge about global warming. A statistically significant difference was observed between the teachers who taught higher primary classes and middle/secondary schools (P