Civil engineering students’ beliefs about the technical and social implications of global warming and when global warming will impact them personally and others
Civil engineering students’ beliefs about the technical and social implications of global warming and when global warming will impact them personally and others
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DOI：
10.18260/1-2--34285
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发表时间：
2020
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Dr. Andrew Katz
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dr. Andrew Katz
联合国将减少全球变暖的影响视为可持续发展目标（SDG）（#13）。这一目标是相互关联的，对改善健康和教育、减少不平等和刺激全球经济增长至关重要。土木工程师将在实现这一目标方面发挥至关重要的作用。为了了解土木工程专业的学生如何看待全球变暖，我们调查了全国样本的土木工程专业的学生在他们的大学最后一个学期（n = 524）。我们问他们：（a）是否认识到与全球变暖相关的技术和社会问题;（B）他们认为全球变暖何时开始对自己、他人和地球产生严重影响。土木工程专业的学生更有可能认识到与全球变暖相关的技术问题，而不是社会问题。特别是，大多数学生了解全球变暖是环境，工程，健康和科学的一个紧迫问题，但不到一半的人认识到全球变暖带来了社会正义，贫困和国家安全问题。此外，土木工程专业的学生在空间距离和全球变暖影响的时间之间存在反比关系。大多数学生认为全球变暖目前正在对植物和动物物种，环境，发展中国家的人民以及世界上的穷人产生严重影响，但不承认自己属于这一群体。相反，土木工程专业的学生大多认为，全球变暖的影响将在25至50年内开始对他们自己、他们的家庭和社区的人们产生严重影响。这些结果令人不安，因为如果这些信念转化为学生等待解决气候变化问题，再过20到50年，就会锁定更多的排放量，并增加未来发生更严重的全球人道主义危机的可能性。需要教育干预来改变这些关于时间和影响的观点。
The United Nations recognizes reducing the effects of global warming as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) (#13). This goal is interconnected and critical to improving health and education, reducing inequality, and spurring economic growth globally. Civil engineers will play a vital role in meeting this goal. To understand how civil engineering students perceive global warming, we surveyed a national sample of civil engineering students in their final semester of college ( n = 524). We asked them (a) if they recognize both the technical and social issues associated with global warming and (b) when they believe global warming will start to have a severe effect on themselves, others, and the planet. Civil engineering students are significantly more likely to recognize the technical issues associated with global warming than social issues. In particular, the majority of students understand global warming is an immediate issue for the environment, engineering, health, and science, but less than half recognize global warming presents social justice, poverty, and national security issues. Moreover, civil engineering students hold an inverse relationship between spatial distance and the timing of the effects of global warming. The majority of students believe global warming is currently having a severe impact on plant and animal species, the environment, people in developing countries, and the world's poor but do not recognize themselves in this group. Instead, civil engineering students predominantly believe the effects of global warming will start to have a serious impact on themselves, their family, and people in their community in 25 to 50 years. These results are troubling because if those beliefs translate into students waiting to address climate change for another two to five decades locks in more emissions and increases the chance of future and more severe global humanitarian crises. Educational interventions are needed to change these perspectives about time and impact.