Environment: Teach green values to kids

By : MASHHOR MANSOR, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
GLOBAL warming plus environmental degradation spell trouble for all life on earth. These pressing environmental issues are difficult to overcome, especially since environmental awareness is superficial and environmental knowledge is limited among the public.
Environmental education is not being addressed. For example, global warning is related to human activities. With the massive developments in China and India, the two nations with the highest populations, nobody can deny that carbon emissions are on the increase.The increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has led to a greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect will result in global warming. An increase of the atmospheric temperature by 1°C or 2°C will melt the ice in the Antarctic and Arctic regions. The increase in sea levels will drown most of the great cities in the world. Perhaps, Bangladesh and the Maldives will be gone. George Town and Johor Baru could also be under water.
The increase in invasive species is reportedly taking place at a tremendous rate due to global warming. Insects, especially mosquitoes, are moving northward and mosquito-borne diseases like malaria are more pronounced in some poor nations. Weedy species are also on the increase, for example, a grassy species, Poa annua, found in Cameron Highlands, was recently recorded in Antarctica. The unique evolutionary characteristics of this species, which can adapt to various ranges of temperatures, has brought about a successful species in the world. Certain insect and grass species can take advantage of such harsh and extreme conditions. This phenomenon is also known as biological pollution. The newly-introduced species can colonise an area quickly. Within a year, their population creates a big problem for native species. Another example is the warming of our coastal waters. This can lead to an algal bloom, which has vast implications on the fishing industry. In view of all this, our children should be exposed to environmental education as early as possible. Nature camps and expeditions should be organised to make them realise the importance of safeguarding ecosystems. Those people armed with ecological and taxonomical knowledge should be involved. Unfortunately, most of our students are weak in taxonomical knowledge. For example, some students cannot even differentiate between an eagle and a crow, a rice plant and a lallang. How can we protect our biodiversity if we don’t know pests and endemic species? We should emphasise this aspect more, because our country is rich in biodiversity. Local communities can protect the habitats of wildlife in their areas. Every school should establish or at least have herbariums and collections of living species from their areas.