A study on KAP regarding environment and global warming in senior secondary school students in Kochi, Kerala

ABSTRACT

Background: Global warming is a phenomenon of an increase in the earth’s temperature. It leads to an environmental, as well as social loss, which has shown an upward trend since the industrial revolution. Greenhouse gases have been showing catastrophic consequences as well. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice among students on the environment so as to discover the gaps and take steps to curb them.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 10th grade high school students. Purposive sampling was done. A pre-tested, semi-structured and self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was analyzed using SPSS V2.0.Results: In this study, 48% of the students were boys and the remaining 52% were girls. A majority of the students were Hindu and belonged to the age group 15-16 years. A hundred percent of the students showed concern regarding the degrading environment. 85% agreed to fact that it can be restored by cumulative efforts. Everyone regarded the sun as the ultimate source of energy. The attitude on protecting the environment was high among the majority of the students. 50% of the students save electricity when not needed. 69% of the students had good knowledge, 65% had a good attitude and 53% had a poor level of practice concerning the environment.Conclusions: In light of the scarcity of adequate literature this study was able to identify gaps among students. Appropriate measures are needed to strengthen their knowledge and attitude and improve their practice.