World's Environmental Status - Environmental Literacy Can Help!

(This is an excerpt from the first chapter of my dissertation: Structural and Functional Properties of Environmental Education and Literacy in Texas: A Multi-Scaled Approach to Identifying Patterns among Organizations and Effects of Nature Experiences on Literacy Levels of Undergraduates. 2013. Jenny D. Lloyd-Strovas, Ph.D.) 

               Humans depend on healthy ecosystems to provide water, energy, and food so that we can have a high quality of life. Yet, we are changing the natural world at an unprecedented rate, and the prevalence of human disease and ecosystem degradation is increasing (Pimentel, 2007). Below are a few challenges that we face as a global community and how those challenges affect our well-being.

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• Climate Change
•  Deforestation
• Increasing Human Population
• Sanitary Water
• Energy
• Pollution
• Biodiversity

These examples indicate a growing gap between the natural environment and society. This gap is environmental illiteracy and there are many approaches to address this issue. Government policy is a top-down approach that can be used at varying scales – local, regional, national, or international. For example, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), a commonly used insecticide in the mid-twentieth century, was banned by the U.S. in 1972 (EPA, 1975) and internationally in 2004 (Stockholm Convention, 2008). Grassroots and humanitarian efforts are bottom-up approaches which start at a small scale but can grow into large, international efforts. For example, Earth Day is a grassroots initiative that was first celebrated in 1970 by a few U.S. cities and is now celebrated in more than 175 countries every year (Earth Day Network, 2013). 

Environmental initiatives were common in the 1970s and should have resulted in a society which understood the value of our natural resources. Yet, the U.S. population is largely ignorant and misinformed about the great number of impending environmental threats. American adults cannot pass a simple quiz on environmental issues (Coyle, 2005). Our country’s K-12 students rank far behind other countries in math and science (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007). Forty percent of Americans do not accept evolutionary theory, despite conclusive scientific evidence (Miller et al., 2006). As a society we need to understand ecological concepts, value our natural resources, and behave in a way that fosters stewardship and sustainability.

Environmental education offers a multi-faceted approach for bridging the gap between society and the natural environment (Hart, 2007). Environmental education is defined as a discipline which “teaches children and adults how to learn about and investigate their environment and to make intelligent, informed decisions about how they can take care of it” (Environmental Education and Training Partnership, EETAP, 2010; North American Association for Environmental Education, NAAEE, 2013). This discipline is implemented at many different scales, for example, geopolitical structures, formal or informal education, various age groups, and public or private institutions. The goal of environmental education is to increase environmental literacy which is defined as “the knowledge and understanding of a wide range of environmental concepts, problems, and issues, a set of cognitive and affective dispositions, a set of cognitive skills and abilities, and the appropriate behavioral strategies to apply such knowledge and understanding in order to make sound and effective decisions in a range of environmental contexts” (NAAEE, 2011).

Climate change, deforestation, an increasing human population, a decrease in sanitary water sources, excessive use of unsustainable energy sources, pollution, and a loss of biodiversity have an effect on human health, our economy, and our overall well-being. To address these concerns, we must have a well-educated society which understands environmental issues, cares about our natural resources, and is willing to work toward a sustainable future. Environmental education is a multi-faceted approach to creating environmentally literate citizens who have the knowledge and skills to develop solutions for anthropogenic environmental issues.

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