The Relationship Between Global Warming and Sustainability

Sustainability has been a current social issue both within New Zealand society and early childhood education for some time now, with a noticeable increase in sustainable practices being woven within the curriculum of many early childhood centres.

Sustainable practices can be seen through the implementation of:

· Worm farms

· Compost bins

· Recycling

· Water conservation

· Tree planting

· And many more creative and interesting ideas

However, I have found many teachers asking the same question,“Where to next?”

This question has intrigued me and I want to explore further where we have come from in regards to sustainability, how we are performing at present, and what the future could hold for sustainability within early childhood education and beyond.

When embarking on researching this social issue, I found I was continually asking myself, “Why is sustainability so important?” This led me on a journey of tackling the subject of global warming, to obtain a greater understanding of the importance of practising sustainability.

So what is global warming?

Morgan and McCrystal (2009) state that global warming is the process of “human activity enhancing the natural tendency of the atmosphere to trap heat ordinarily radiated from the Earth’s surface into space” (p. 29). There is also definitive evidence to prove that the earth is warming, with Remowden (2007) stating that “since 1950 . . . New Zealand has warmed by 0.6°c . . . [with] the global average raising by 0.6°c in just the last 30 years” (p. 54). However, the cause of this rise in temperature seems to polarise people.

 

Natural warming cycle or man-made problem?

It seems that there are two main perspectives on this issue - conservative and liberal. At the conservative end of the spectrum, global warming can be viewed as a “stalking horse for anti-consumerist Greenies” (Morgan & McCrystal, 2009, p. 229), with policies surrounding global warming being seen as detrimental to the global economy. At the liberal end of the spectrum, there is belief that international corporations continue to deny global warming because their“interests are mortgaged to the fossil fuel economy” (Morgan & McCrystal, 2009, p. 229). At present, with research on the cause of global warming still being very limited, it is hard to determine the true effect climate change is having on our environment. However, we cannot wait another twenty years for definitive proof before making a change, while in the meantime continuing to pollute and kill our plant.

What can we do to help?

Ronowden (2007) suggests that

global warming is out most immediate challenge… [but] the bad news is that there is nothing New Zealand can do that will make any difference to our changing climate [because] our carbon emissions are less than 0.5 percent of the global total. (p. 116)

When reading this statement, I became very disheartened about our efforts so far in regards to sustainability, and I began to question whether it was worth our time and effort. However, I then listened to a speech presented by Al Gore where he quoted Mahatma Gandhi stating that “you must become the change you wish to see in the world.” I believe that this quotation is important for teachers working within early childhood education to consider and will become the statement by which I shape the rest of my research on sustainability around.

Morgan, G. & McCrystal, J. (2009). Poles apart: Beyond the shouting, who’s right about climate change?. Auckland, New Zealand: Random House New Zealand.

Renowden, G. (2007). Hot topic: Global warming and the future of New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology Media.