Environmental Education: A Tool for Creation of Awareness Onadaptation to Climate Change in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the role of Environmental Education as a tool for the creation of awareness on adaptation to climate change in Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Five research questions and five hypotheses were raised and formulated respectively for analyses and testing in the study. The population of the study comprised of all public primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions as well as rural and urban settlers in the six (6) geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The sample size comprised of 300 respondents respectively made up of 60 pupils, 60 secondary students, 60 tertiary students, 60 rural settlers and 60 urban settlersselectedrandomly from six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The research instrument used for data collection was a 15structured questionnaireitems rated on a 4-point Likert scale, with response options of Strongly Agree (SA); Agree (A); Disagree (D); and Strongly Disagree (SD).The responses of the respondents were presentedin simple statistical table and analysed using Mean (x̅) and Grand Mean (gx̅) while Chi-Square (x2) was used to test the hypotheses, generated at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that Environmental Education (EE) can be used in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions as well as rural and urban settlements to create awareness on adaptation to climate change in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that EE, which is a major tool for creation of awareness on adaptation to climate change should be taught with outdoor practical and field studies, and as a compulsory subject at all levels of education in Nigeria.

Keywords: Climate change, Adaptation, Maladaptation, Environmental Education (EE)