University of Vermont Campus Climate Change Survey

1
University of Vermont Campus Climate Change Survey
Data Collected and Analyzed by Elena Mamatas
2

• The purpose of this survey was to find out what
  UVM students know about climate change as well as
  their opinions regarding the issue.
  
• This presentation reflects these findings and
  offers educational information pertaining to the
  issues presented in the survey.
  
• Thank you to everyone who participated.

3
Population Demographics

• Total Participants172
• Female 76 Male 80 Transgender 3 Unlisted 13
• Freshmen 28 Sophomores 52 Juniors 56 Seniors
  32 Grad students 4
  
• Majors Animal Science (12), Anthropology (8),
  Athletic Training (2), Biology (4), Business (5),
  CDAE (3), Chemistry (2), Community
  Entrepreneurship (2), Counseling (1), Dietetics
  (6), Ecological Agriculture (2), Economics (2),
  Engineering (20), English (9), Environmental
  Studies (28), Film (4), Finance (2), Geography
  (4), Human Development (2), Math (4),
  Microbiology (2), Natural Resources Planning (2),
  Political Science (10), Plant Soil Science (4),
  Psychology (10), Russia and East European Studies
  (1), Sociology (2), Studio Art (8), Sustainable
  Landscape (2), Sustainable Living (1), Undecided
  (7), Wildlife Biology (3)

4
Do you believe that humans have either caused or
accelerated the rate of climate change?

• 87.2 of students say yes
• 2.4 of students say no
• 10.4 of students say somewhat

5
Do you think its possible to stop or reverse
climate change through human action?
NO - 31.4
YES - 68.6
6
Do you know of any nations, villages, or
communities that have already had to relocate due
to the effects of climate change?
YES - 34.9
NO - 65.1
7
Here are the places that students listed in
response to the last question

• Georgia because of no drinking water
• New Orleans
• Foothills of Himalayas (India)
• Alaska
• South Pacific Islands
• Native Villages in Canada have experienced diet
  and lifestyle change
  
• Southwest US
• Tuvalu, Maldives
• All over the world
• Bangladesh
• Banda Ache (Tsunami location)
• Somewhere in Malaysia?

8
Hurricanes and Climate Change

• Most students listed New Orleans for the last
  question, because of the displacement caused by
  Hurricane Katrina.
  
• Although its difficult to fully attribute a
  hurricane to global warming, the
  Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change has
  predicted that hurricanes and typhoons are
  becoming more intense as a result of global
  warming.
• This raises a question about how we go about
  tallying the amount of climate refugees.
  
• Currently, no central tally is kept by the UN
  about how many climate refugees there are, or
  even how many people are displaced by
  environmental disasters in general.

9
Some places where people have been displaced by
conditions attributable to climate change

• The Carteret Islands (Papua New Guinea) - flooded
  by raising sea levels
  
• Shishmaref, Alaska - melting, entire village will
  be relocated
  
• Lohachara, Bay of Bengal - flooded, island has
  vanished
  
• The Maldives Islands - raising sea levels, 60 of
  residents have volunteered to evacuate over next
  15 years

10
How much did the sea level rise during the 20th
century?
Number of Responses
11
Sea Level Rose 20-30 cm in the 20th Century
19.7 of students answered correctly

• (Earth Policy Institute, 2001)

12
This century, sea levels could rise up to a meter
or more. This will force 60 million people to be
environmental refugees in developing countries
alone. How should this problem be dealt with?

• 33.7 Developed/industrialized countries, like
  the United States, are responsible for climate
  change, so they should allow refugees to relocate
  to their countries.
• 22.1 Developed/industrialized countries should
  not allow refugees to relocate to their
  countries, but they should provide financial
  assistance because they owe them.
• 10.5 Developed/industrialized countries do not
  owe refugees in developing countries anything. If
  they want to be charitable thats one thing, but
  they shouldnt be held responsible for helping
• 33.7 Other

13
Of the 58 students who chose other, here are
their responses

• Many students noted that they felt the word owe
  was inappropriate
  
• 30 students said they would combine financial
  assistance with allowing some refugees to
  relocate (the first and second options)
  
• 13 students said that we should simply prevent
  these problems from happening through a range of
  pollution policies and technological advances
  (however, 2 of these students also answered no
  to whether it was possible to prevent or slow
  climate change through human action)
• 12 students did not respond
• 2 students said their answer was dependent on
  what resources were available to the developed
  countries at that point in time
  
• 1 students said developed countries should help
  refugees adapt to living in proximity of where
  they once lived

(Note students used their own wording in these
responses, and I took the liberty of generalizing
their statements as seen above)
14

• The island of Tuvulu in the South Pacific has
  decided to evacuate its entire population of
  11,000 because of rising sea levels.
  
• New Zealand has agreed to take in all of its
  refugees over the next 10 years.

15
Coastal communities will be affected by rising
sea levels. Beside the effects from people moving
inland, do you think non-coastal areas (like
Vermont!) will be affected by climate change?

• A) No, inland areas will be largely unaffected
• B) Yes, but affects will me minor - life can
  basically go on as it does now
  
• C)Yes, but affects will be major - ways of life
  will be dramatically altered

3.5
3.5
37.2
55.8
16
Has Vermont already been affected by climate
change?
17
Responses of those who said yes as to how
Vermont has been affected by climate change

• The vast majority of students mentioned changes
  in seasonal weather - everything from less
  snow/general precipitation, warmer temperatures
  year round, and more extreme weather patterns,
  was mentioned
• Pest problems/invasive species
• Reduced maple syrup production
• Damaged tourism industry
• Longer growing seasons

18

• In Burlington, the average temperature has
  increased .4 degrees F in the last century.
  
• In the past century precipitation has increased
  5 in most parts of the state.
  
• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on
  Climate Change, the average temperature in
  Vermont in the spring could increase by 4 degrees
  F, and up to 5 degrees F in other seasons during
  the 21st century.
• A 4 degree F warming could increase
  concentrations of ozone by 4. Ozone is a major
  component of smog, which is associated with
  higher rates of respiratory illness.
• A warmer climate will increase rates of
  evaporation, increasing the amount of irrigation
  needed for agriculture crops. Subsequently, this
  increased evaporation effect will make water more
  scarce.
• The spruce and fir forests in Vermont are the
  southernmost forests of these types. As much as
  30-60 of these forested areas could be replaced
  by warmer climate forests, with a mix of pines
  and hardwoods.
• (EPA, 1998)

19
How do you feel about the medias attention to
the issue of climate change?
11.6

• A) Not enough attention has been paid to this
  issue
  
• B) Just enough attention has been paid to this
  issue
  
• C) The media has gone overboard with scaring
  people about this issue
  

15.1
73.3
20

• Of the 20 students who answered C) The media has
  gone overboard with scaring people about this
  issue, 0 of them knew of any specific places
  that had to be relocated due to climate change.
• A few students made notes next to this question,
  that I feel are important to include. Four
  students said that not enough serious or real
  attention has been paid to the issue, and one
  student made a note that the attention has come
  too late.

21
Do you think our government has a responsibility
to pass legislation that would limit
individual/business carbon emissions, or do you
think this is a social responsibility?
Of the 3 students who said other, 2 said that
climate change is not a problem, and 1 said its
a global responsibility
22
Would you like to see the United States sign onto
the Kyoto Protocol, or a similar international
treaty regulating emissions?
93
3.5
6 students left this question blank, one of whom
expressed that they did not know what the Kyoto
Protocol is
23
Do you feel that you could alter your life toward
a more carbon-neutral direction?
17.5
2.3
80.2
24
Which of the following pieces of legislation
would you support?
25
22 of participants would support limiting the
hours you can drive per week
26
90 of participants would support forcing car
companies to design cars that meet strict
standards
27
37 of participants would support fines for
exceeding a certain amount of energy use per
household
28
87 of students would support legislation
offering incentives for individuals to use clean
energy or less energy all together
29
78 of students would support legislation calling
for subsidies for clean energy alternatives
30
Others

• Make and design better public transportation
• Marketing of how cool it is/health benefits of
  biking
  
• Limiting carbon emissions, change to nuclear
  power
  
• Raise gas prices
• Education about what individuals can do to
  conserve
  
• Produce more energy efficient appliances (light
  bulbs, washers, etc)
  
• More incentives to be greener

31

• It seems that students favor policies that dont
  directly affect their own ways of life
  
• A minority of students would support limitations
  on driving and fines for using too much energy
  
• The majority of students support reforming car
  company standards, incentives for using less
  energy, and subsidies for clean energy

32
Student Habits
33
52 of students drive their car at least once a
week or more, on average
34
55 of students leave their computer on all the
time, or most of the time
35
48 of students use compact florescent light
bulbs in most of their light fixtures
36

• If every American home replaced just one light
  bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb compact
  fluorescent light bulb, we would save enough
  energy to light more than 3 million homes for a
  year, more than 600 million in annual energy
  costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to
  the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
• -EnergyStar.gov

37
64 of students purchase local food as often as
possible
Could it be possible that some students
considered buying food from in town the same
thing as local food? This result is quite bit
higher than the result for organic food, which
leads me to believe the question may have been
misleading for some.
38
Why is it better to buy locally produced food?

• Food miles! How far the food had to travel to get
  to your grocery store
  
• According to Bill McKibben, 75 of apples in NY
  come from the west coast or overseas this is
  just one example of how far food often travels to
  get to the supermarket

39
49 of students purchase organic food as often as
possible
40
What does organic food have to do with climate
change?

• Chemical pesticides and herbicides, commonly used
  in the production of non-organic food, require
  petroleum to be produced
  
• Eating organic foods generally means that what
  youre eating required a lot less energy to
  produce

41
49 of students actively try to live minimally -
I dont purchase many products that are
unnecessary for my survival and success as a
college student
42
88 of students recycle the vast majority of
their waste that is recyclable
43
If every person on Earth were to live similar
lifestyles as you, do you believe one planet
Earth would be enough to support the human
population?

• 40 of students say yes
• This number is very high

44
If everyone on the planet were to live like the
average American, 24 Earths would be necessary to
sustain the population

• How many planet Earths would it really require to
  support a world population of people like you?
  
• http//www.myfootprint.org/