College of Teacher Education Students’ Level of Awareness on Climate Change, Impacts and Mitigation Practices

Abstract

The Cagayan State University at Sanchez Mira is one of the agencies commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology to implement projects for the abatement of the ill effects of climate change. This study determined the level of awareness of the students on climate change, its impacts and their mitigation practices, making use of a descriptive research design with open and closed-ended statements administered to 500 randomly chosen College of Teacher Education students of CSU during the S.Y. 2012-2013. Data elicited from the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, and weighted means. The respondents have a low level of climate change awareness, and reported impacts include changes in rainfall patterns in the locality, excessive heat and lower incidence of strong typhoons during the past few years. Proper waste disposal, tree planting, inclusion of climate change topics in the school subjects and wider researches along adaptation practices are among the popular mitigation practices identified. This study concludes that the impacts of climate change are not always negative. The change has led the people to adopt new technologies, crops and livestock that gave them even a higher income. New cropping patterns and production technologies must be studied to suit to the new weather condition. Keywords: Ecology and conservation, climate change awareness, descriptive-survey design, Philippines