Climate Change and Learning

“The schools will remain close for one week.” The news was quite expected as the existing pollution in the city was high. Yes, the carbon emissions have really impacted the levels of safe limits prescribed by all standards in several cities across the globe. 

“The holidays of the schools are extended by another fifteen days due to the heat waves.” This was during the last summer, and the authorities were quite sensitive to the impact of heat waves on those young ones. 

“The schools will remain closed for another five days due to cold wave”. This was in the winter as the children in the shivering days found it difficult to go to the school and engage with learning. 

The impact of the weather, climate and the environment on the educational institutions and the process of learning among the learners has become an increasing concern for the governments and the patents recently. The concern for climate change is now a global debate, 

Said Barrack Obama, the former President of United States “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” Expressing a similar concern, Kofi Annan, the Former Secretary- General of the United Nations said “The world is reaching the tipping point beyond which climate change may become irreversible. If this happens, we risk denying present and future generations the right to a healthy and sustainable planet – the whole of humanity stands to lose.”

With emerging concerns for unlimited carbon emissions worldwide, it has become an existential crisis. This has triggered worldwide research on its impact in several fronts including on the quality of learning among the learners. 

Some of the key research findings do indicate the following:

1. Climate changes act as a cognition load

It has been observed that with every single degree rise in temperature, the cognitive load of the learner increases. It is said that the learner’s ability to recall, recognize, access and configure concepts and visuals takes a beating. The process of slow down is consequent to several factors of the heat that impacts sensory organs and thereby the speed and the quality of sensory transmissions to the brain centres. A study indicates that the cognitive attention of the chess players decreases with every degree increase in temperature.

2.  Climate changes impact our senses

The response of the sensory systems due to impactful changes in the climate appears significant. It challenges the routine and existing patterns of communication from different senses which in turn results in delayed cognition, delayed response levels, delayed networking in the brain cells. Every change in the climate appears to impact the networking of the brain. There appears to be a significant change in the learning profile of the learners as the brain navigates with the environment.

3. Climate changes can act on the intellect.

Studies indicate with evidence that the climate can act on the intellect. Even some minimal changes in temperature appear to decrease the ability of the learner to access the intelligence. It is claimed that even in cases where the intelligence is accessed, its effective engagement with brain processes appear to be slowed down. It is not that the learner’s intelligence becomes low, but one’s ability to access it becomes tough. These research findings are critical for the knowledge of the teachers in the classroom not only to assess the learners but to facilitate and engage with them both in context and over a longer period.

4. Climate changes impact memory

It is claimed that the ability of the brain to form effect networking becomes dismal due to climate change. Both formation of memory, accessing and processing of the memory appears difficult during severe weather conditions and climate changes. Evidence do show the change in the learning patterns of both the individuals and the cohorts. Some researchers attribute this to the struggle experienced by the brain cells to metabolise glucose. With increasing temperatures, it is said that even serotonin formation in the system declines. Such changes in hormones do impact both learning, response and reaction patterns and active engagement with learning.

5. Climate changes impact learning styles and learning quality

Research indicates that the climate change can corrupt perceptions. This seems to have a significant effect in understanding, logistic communication, mental designs, problem solving and critical thinking. Further, it is also claimed that the error rate decreases with increasing temperatures. In China, Park studies indicated that with 1% change in the standard deviation of the mean temperature, the performance levels decreased by 2 percent. In Qatar, experiments indicated strapping cold packs to the foreheads of students restored some of the lost cognitive capacity due to heat. It is also reported that during higher temperatures the mathematics scores of learners in the classroom tanked significantly.

6. Climate changes trigger fatigue.

The fatigue rate of the workers has been found to be impacted significantly with climate changes. This has a significant impact on the performance of the workers. Even with learners, the interest, aptitude, attention levels, cognitive engagements, and interpersonal relationships including peer learning seem to be impacted by changing temperature. These patterns appear to be different both during severe summer and winter conditions. Fatigue is also reported to lead to enhanced incoherence, disorder, impatience, aggression, and violence. The psychologists point to increasing environmental stress disorder during climate changes.

7. Climate changes impact entrepreneurial attitude

Consequent to its impact on cognition, memory, attention and the like, the entrepreneurial attitude of the learners reduces significantly. Exercising more time on understanding, delayed decision-making, poor critical thinking and hesitant risk-taking behaviour, the overall entrepreneurial ability is impacted. This has a significant psychological impact on the learners; it is claimed that they result in self-doubt, distress behaviour, and poor relationship management. Studies also indicate their impact on language patterns that build relations due to corruption of effective and positive language communication. Studies also indicate errant body language of the people due to fatigue and other hormonic changes.

8. Climate changes can impact the behavioral pattern.

It is also claimed that climate changes can lead to ‘Climate grief’ among the learners. This could be both anticipatory and experiential. Learners indicate pain, sorrow, minor health complaints, sense of loss and hopelessness. This may not be due to any personal impact, but this could arise due to social impact of climate changes. In west, studies are also being conducted on eco-anxiety and eco-melancholia among the learners because of climate changes. 

1. They need a deep understanding and sensitivity to climate changes to make their classrooms open, flexible and learning-friendly.
2. They should be willing to negotiate with their pedagogical patterns to enable personalized learning and peer learning to make learning less stressful. 
3. They need to acquire emotional skills that will help them to handle various emotional challenges that arise due to the impact of the climate.
4. The assessment patterns in classrooms must be more pragmatic, non-judgmental, informal and positive. 
5. The classrooms should be less monotonous, less demanding and enabling self-learning.