This study sought to investigate the relationship between climate change information sources, fact-checking, and attitude among students at Adeleke University. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study using a questionnaire. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The majority of the 688 survey respondents had an unworried attitude about climate change. Students were discovered to obtain climate change information through Google, television, friends, family, Facebook, radio, YouTube, and Instagram. Students were discovered to often fact-check climate change information. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, radio, church/mosque, friends, religious leaders, and fact-checking have a significant relationship with climate change attitudes. The study concluded that using social media and religious aspects as a source of climate change information may associate to an unworried attitude about climate change. As a result, it suggests addressing religious concerns about climate change.
TopIntroduction
Nigeria is the world's most populous black nation, and it is endowed with an abundance of natural resources and features (Adetayo, 2021b). Nigeria has a tropical climate with two precipitation regimes: low precipitation in the north and high precipitation in the southwest and southeast. It has not suffered the very destructive impacts of climatic extremes such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. This, however, may be changing as a result of climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as any change in climate over time, whether caused by natural variability or human action (IPCC, 2014). Following a succession of earth tremors in various sections of the nation in recent years, Nigerian seismologists have unanimously agreed that the country is no longer an earthquake-free zone (aseismic), as previously believed (Orakpo, 2017).
It has been noted that atmospheric CO2 levels have risen from 280 to 400 parts per million during the previous century, and may reach 550 parts per million by 2050 (IPCC, 2014). The frequency and intensity of extreme droughts have increased (Diffenbaugh et al., 2017) and are expected to grow further (Lehner et al., 2017), with potentially disastrous consequences for tree mortality (Hartmann et al., 2018). Also, rainfall durations and intensities have risen, resulting in massive runoffs and flooding in several parts of Nigeria (Enete, 2014).
It is crucial to emphasise, however, that developing countries and the impoverished are more vulnerable to climate change (Adger et al., 2016). Rural farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, are projected to be especially vulnerable to climate change, owing to the confluence of poverty, poor infrastructure and technological development, and reliance on rain-fed agriculture (Adimassu & Kessler, 2016; Nelson et al., 2014). According to vulnerability assessments, Nigerian states in the north are more vulnerable to climate change than those in the south (Ignatius, 2016). The rising temperature has hampered productivity in Nigerian animal production, particularly in poultry, swine, cattle, sheep, and goats. Annual output reductions of about 15% have been recorded (Gbenga et al., 2020).
There is scientific agreement that the rise in greenhouse gases created by human activity is significantly impacting the Earth's climate. A greenhouse gas (abbreviated GHG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy in the thermal infrared spectrum. Water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are the principal greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The release of these gases has been directly linked to the use of fossil fuels, which is a key source of revenue for Nigeria.
Since many Nigerians have not directly experienced the worst effects of climate change, aside from floods and other minor repercussions, they may grow up with an unworried attitude about climate change. As a result, the sources of information about climate change becomes important for most Nigerians since they would only understand the disastrous effects of climate change through other’s experiences and not primarily theirs.
Nigerians, particularly students, obtain the majority of their information through social media, mainstream media, and individuals around them. These several sources of information have recently become controversial. Social media, for example, has been known to transmit a lot of false news while simultaneously containing a lot of real news. On the other hand, the news media, which should be the arbiter of true news, has been divided on the topic of climate change, with liberal media being more favourable to minimising it than conservative news media (Adetayo, 2021a). Similarly, students may obtain information about climate change through religious sources, which have likewise been divided on the matter (Bardon, 2020). As a result, there have risen a surge of fact checking among people to confirm if information they receive from different sources are facts or fake.