Many people have different opinions and
feelings about climate change. United Nations Climate
Action says, “Climate change refers to long-term shifts
in temperatures and weather patterns.”
But how does our school community feel
about climate change?
WFS faculty sent out a survey to the student
body, asking students to share their beliefs on climate
change. The first question asked how well informed
students felt about climate change. Options for
response ranged from one to five, with one being
“not well informed”, and five being “very well
informed.” Not a single student selected one, but
20% of students responded ‘two’.
The largest percent of students (36%),

selected 3, and 32% selected 4. Only 12% of stu-
dents said that they felt very well informed. These

statistics show us that students feel relatively
informed about climate change, but are insecure
about their knowledge.
The second question asked students
how often their friends discussed climate change.
The options for response again were a scale of
one to five, with one being never and five being
every day. 36% of students selected one, and 36%
of students selected two. The remaining 28% of
students chose three. No one selected 4 or 5.
This shows that the majority of students are
not accustomed to talking about climate change with
their friends very often.
The next question asked students how often
their family talked about climate change, with the
same range from one to five. 28% of students selected
one, 44% selected two, 12% selected three, and the
remaining 16% selected four. No one selected five.
The next question asked students how often
they heard about climate change in the news. 24% of
students said one, 24% of students selected two, 40%
of the students selected three, and 12% selected four.

None selected five. Students were also asked how often
they heard about climate change on social media, with

the same 1-5 rating options. 24% of students select-
ed onw, 32% of students chose two, 24% of students

chose three, 16% of students chose four and the
remaining 4% of students chose five. This shows that
students do not hear much about climate change in
the media and news.

When asked, “Do you think the global cli-
mate is changing?”, 100% of students said yes. When

asked if human actions are responsible for climate

change, 96% of students said yes while the remaining
4% said no.
The next question asked participants if they
think climate change is hurting other species. Again,
96% said yes while the remaining 4% said no. The next
question asked students if they think climate change
will harm future generations, and 100% said yes. This

shows that an overwhelming amount of students be-
lieve that humans are responsible for climate change,

and that it will affect future generations.
In addition, students were asked if they think

climate change would affect them personally. Of those
who filled out the survey, 72% of students said yes,
that it would affect them. The remaining 28% selected
no. When asked if they had ever seen or experienced
effects of climate change, 80% of students said yes and
20% of students said no. Students were then asked, “If
yes, what effects of climate change have you observed
or experienced?” One student said, “The tide rising
and less snow in the winter.” Another student said,

“Sanibel, which used to be a place my family vaca-
tioned at and I have a lot of memories of, getting hit

by the hurricane.” These responses show the
personal effects of climate change, and how

global change is affecting our own communi-
ty.

The next question asked, “What do
you think is causing climate change?” One

student replied, “The CO2 that cars are emit-
ting, the destruction of forests, and the big

corporations like amazon that manufacture

goods.” Another student said, “Carbon emis-
sions that derive from human output.” Four

students said that the cause was humans. The
last question asked students, “How would
you define climate change?” One student
said, “Climate Change is the alterations of
the temp and weather patterns of the earth,
caused by human activities.” Another student
replied, “scary”. This shows that students have a good
understanding of climate change, but that it is a scary
issue in our world today.
To end on a happy note, there is hope for

stopping climate change! The United States Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) says, “EPA’s Clean

Air Act requirements for the oil and natural gas indus-
try help combat climate change and reduce emissions

of other harmful air pollutants,” As the previous stu-
dent stated, climate change can be scary. But we can

work together to make Wilmington Friends a more
eco-friendly school, and work to support the slowing
of climate change.