




































American International Journal of Education and Linguistics Research  

Vol. 2, No. 2; 2019 

ISSN 2641-7987   E-ISSN 2641-7995 

Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA 

 

29 

 

 

Knowledge and Perception of Secondary School Teachers on Global 

Warming in Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria 
 

 

Samuel Olanrewaju Oladapo  

Adekunle Ajasin University 

 Akungba Akoko, Nigeria  
E-mail: Lanree2007@gmail.com 

 

 

 

Abstract 

This study examines the Knowledge level of teachers in Ibadan on global warming, the factors influence it and how 

they perceived it. Questionnaire was used as the main instrument for data collection. It was designed to elicit 

information on the basis of research questions set for this study. A total number of 450 teachers were used as the 

sample size. Descriptive statistics such as simple percentages and frequency counts were used in the analysis of the 

research data collected. The study revealed that teachers have knowledge on global warming and aware of its threat 

to human existence. It was observed that the source of their knowledge on global warming by teachers include the 
media and attendance at conferences and workshops. As a result of the above findings, it was recommended that 

efforts should be made to make relevant and up-to-date information on global warming available to the teachers. 

Emphasis should be made to make the teachers participate in programmes that address adaptation policies on global 

warming. 

 

Keywords:
 
Global warming, Knowledge, awareness, Teachers. 

1. Background of the Problem  
Global warming constitutes one of the 21st century key challenges to development the world over (UNDP, 2007). 
As such, global warming have become issues of global concern in the recent decades. This is evidenced by the flurry 

of conferences, campaigns, reports and researches on this subject since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. While there 

are natural causes of global warming, the current warring trend has been largely blamed on human activities mainly 

the burning of fossil fuels, industrial pollution, deforestation, and land use changes (IPCC, 2007; Canadel , 2010; 

Weart, 2010). All these anthropogenic activities either increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the 

atmosphere (Canadel 2010), as is the case of combustion of fossil fuel and industrial pollution, or interfere with the 

absorption of carbon by terrestrial sinks (IPCC, 2007), as is the case of deforestation and land use changes, leading 

to global warming.  

 

Global warming is, quite literally, when temperatures of the world's atmosphere rises. Between the periods 1956-

2005, the average earth's temperature rose and 13°C per decade. This might not seem like much, but it was double 
the rate for the 100 years from 1906 to 2005. Temperatures in colder areas, like the Arctic, rose twice as fast as the 

average. The increase of temperatures on the land doesn't tell the full story. That's because the ocean absorbed 80% 

of the heat. This has led to the ice caps melting at a rate of 2.7% per decade since 1978. It also caused sea level to 

rise at an average rate of 3.11mm per year between the periods 1993-2003, nearly double the rate between the 

periods 1961-2003 (IPCC Climate Change 2007). 

 

Scientific and government organizations have agreed that global warming is caused by a man-made increase in 

greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). It is one 

major worldwide change that most people do not take into account. Global warming which is due to  climate change 

refers to a change in climate that is attributable directly or indirectly to human activities, that alters the atmospheric 

composition of the earth The result has been the loss of farmlands and conflicts between farmers and herdsmen over 

ever decreasing land for animal gracing. Many different communities, including fishermen, farmers and herdsmen, 
are now confronted with difficulties arising from climatic changes. Nigeria is one of the countries expected to be 

most affected by the impacts of climate change through sea level rise along her coast line, intensified desertification, 

erosion and flooding disasters and general land degradation. According to a report in Guardian Newspaper, Nigeria 



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lose close to $9 billion as a result of the catastrophe while, at least, 80per cent of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta 

will be displaced due to the low level of the oil-rich region (Hassan and Nhemachena, 2008) 

 

The impact of global warming has become obvious in Nigeria necessitating the need for adaptation and mitigation at 

the country level. However, adaptation to and mitigation of global warming and climate change require the public to 

be fully aware and perceive climate change as a problem of global concern. Yet, the vast majority of Nigeria is 
unaware of global warming, There has been alarming fear in the heart of environment experts on the rate at which 

the temperature of the earth changes. This has brought about global warming, causing diverse degree of damage to 

man, animals, plants and their environment. This has made nations to meet to agree on how to reduce the human 

activities that has been identified as a major cause of global warming. Despite their awareness of changing weather 

patterns, people in Africa, are poorly informed about global climate change (Godfrey, 2009; Taderera, 2010). The 

low level of awareness on global warming across sub-Saharan African countries is attributed to limited awareness 

campaigns on one hand and the fact that African countries have got too many problems ranging from poverty to 

political conflicts on the other hand hence global warming and climate change is never a priority issue (UNFCCC, 

2007; UNDP, 2007). Contrary results were, however, reported by Pugliese and Ray (2009) who states that global 

warming is more likely to be perceived as a serious problem in the developed world than in developing countries, 

despite developing countries being the most vulnerable to global warming impacts.  

 
In Nigeria today, some state governments including Oyo State Government in collaboration with the Federal 

government have begun taking steps to mitigate the effects of global warming in Nigeria. Even as resources are put 

together to mitigate global warming, there is need to educate people on what global warming really is. The city of 

Ibadan has been selected as an examination of this trend because of its unprecedented growth in Nigeria and Ibadan 

happened to be the capital city of Oyo State. Analysis shows that the temperatures in Ibadan have been increasing at 

significantly higher rates than its surrounding rural temperatures. The growth of settlements in the capital city of 

Oyo State results to rise in temperature because most common construction materials absorb and retain more of the 

sun’s heat than natural surfaces in less- developed rural areas. Urban Heat Island in turn, modifies local metrological 

conditions, such as wind patterns, cloud cover, humidity and rates of precipitation. However, Air temperatures in 

urban areas have been measured to be up to ten degree Celsius (18 degree Fahrenheit) warmer than the air 

temperature of their surrounding rural areas (Carlowiez, 2009).  
 

Increasing people’s awareness on global warming through education is an important measure to persuade people at 

all levels in the community to play an active role in mitigating and adapting to global warming and climate change. 

It is paramount to assess the teachers’ level of knowledge on global warming since the teachers’ level of knowledge 

and awareness is likely to influence how they conduct global warming knowledge transfer in the classroom. The 

government therefore needs to largely educate Nigerians on how best to safeguard their lives and properties in the 

light of global warming in Nigeria. This study was designed to fill this gap by assessing the level of global warming 

knowledge among Ibadan teachers. 

 

Despite all the measures adopted, there seem to be extreme weather changes, which have been as a result of 

environmental pollution by different strata of society, which involve both literate and illiterate. It is essential that 

without the knowledge of a problem there must be no solution insight. Therefore, this work is aimed at investigating 
the knowledge of global warming issues among teachers in Ibadan.    

 

2. Research Questions  
 What is the level of awareness of teachers on global warming in Ibadan?  

 What factors influence teachers’ level of awareness on global warming?  

 Do teachers in Ibadan perceive global warming as a threat?  

 

The design for this study is descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprises of teachers 

from public and private secondary schools located in Ibadan the capital city of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study 

targeted a population of secondary school teachers in the study area. The choice of secondary  school teachers as the 

unit of observation was guided by the vital role they could play not only in imparting knowledge of global warming, 
but also in shaping attitudes and behaviors of the students.  

 

 

 



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3. Sample and Sampling Technique 

Ibadan was purposively selected as the study area due to its diverse nature of settlement, which gave the researcher 

the opportunity to collect data from schools, located in the study area.  Since the population is large, the researcher 

used simple random sampling technique to select 450 respondents from ten secondary schools in Ibadan. The sample 

for this study comprises of forty-five (45) teachers randomly selected from ten public secondary schools.  

 

3.1 Research Instrument 

The main instrument used by the researcher is questionnaire to collect data for this study. The questionnaire 

consisted of 2 sections labelled A & B. Section A consisted of demographic questions. Section B consisted of 

awareness questions to establish respondents’ basic knowledge of global warming issues. A five-point Likert Scale 

was used to rate respondents attitude towards various Likert items. The questionnaire was drawn to extract 

information from respondents by circling and ticking appropriate responses from the alternatives provided with the 

use of “Agree (A), Strongly Agree (SA), Disagreed (D), and Strongly Disagreed (SD)”. 

 

3.2 Validity of Instrument 

To ensure validation of instruments, the instrument was given to the supervisor for necessary correction and 

modification. The corrections made were effected and required copies printed to be administered on the respondents.  

 

3.3 Reliability of Instrument 

The Reliability coefficient for the instrument was 0.75 which is above average in reliability, therefore the instrument 

is reliable. These reliability coefficients were considered adequate for the consistencies of the instrument. 

 

4.  Data Analysis 

The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using SPSS 20 software. The results were discussed using 

descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, frequency distribution tables and percentages. 

 

The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using SPSS 20 software. The results were discussed using 

descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, frequency distribution tables and percentages. 

 
Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of respondents by sex 

 

Sex FREQUENCY PERCENTAGES 

Male 87 58.0 

Female 63 42.0 

Total 150 100.0 

 

Table 1 showed that majority 87 (58.0%) of the respondents were males while the remaining 63 (42.0%) were 

females. 

 
Research Question 1: What is the level of awareness of teachers in Ibadan on global warming?  

 

Table 2: Rating of teachers’ awareness on global warming in Ado – Ekiti 

Awareness level Frequency Percentage 

Good (8 – 16) 103 68.7 

Poor (0 -7) 47 31.3 

Total 150 100.0 

 

The mean awareness score of the respondents was 3.7±0.75. Majority (68.7%) of the respondents had a good 
awareness while only 31.3% have poor awareness of global warming (Table 4.6a). 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Table 3 : Showing level of teachers’ awareness on global warming i 

 

 

        

Table 3 revealed the level of teachers awareness on global warming as follows; 74(48.7%) and 87(58.0%) of the 

respondents strongly agreed that global warming leads to waterborne diseases informed that global warming is an 

issue of global concern respectively. While 72(48.0%) and 75(50.0%) of the respondents agreed that the increase of 
greenhouse gases is mainly caused by human activities and aware that global warming is mainly caused by natural 

variations respectively. This revealed that the teachers had a good awareness of global warming 

 

Research Question 2: What factors influence teachers’ level of awareness on global warming? 

 

Table 4: Showing factors influence teachers’ level of awareness on global warming in Ibadan 

Items SA(%) A(%) D(%) SD(%) Mean Std. Dev. 

I learn about 

global 

warming 

through 

seminar, 

workshop 

62(41.3) 86(57.4) 0(0.0) 2(1.3) 3.39 0.57 

Through 

electronic 

media 

79(52.0) 56(36.8) 7(4.6) 8(5.3) 3.37 0.81 

I heard 

through 

people 
around me 

54(36.0) 82(54.7) 14(9.3) 0(0.0) 3.27 0.62 

It also talk 
about in 

religious 

places 

49(32.7) 84(56.0) 17(11.3) 0(0.0) 3.21 0.63 

Through 

home video 

0(0.0) 58(38.7) 36(24.0) 56(37.3) 3.13 0.77 

       * Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D), Strongly Disagree (SD)  

 

Table 4 revealed the factors that influence teachers’ level of awareness on global warming as follows; 

workshop/seminar(B9) 86(57.4%) agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.39 and ± 0.57), television 

and national radio(B10) 79(52.0%)  strongly agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.37 and ± 0.81),  

Newspaper magazines, journals/internet(B11) 82(54.7%) agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.27 

and ± 0.62) while friends/family members, neighbor and coworkers(B12) 84(56.0%) agreed with mean and standard 

deviation score of (3.21 and ± 0.63) and learning materials (B13) 58(38.7%) agreed with mean and standard 

deviation score of (3.13 and ± 0.77) respectively. The responded however disagreed that it’s been talked about in 

worship places 

 

Items SA(%) A(%) D(%) SD(%) Mean Std. Dev. 

It leads to 

water born 

diseases  

74(48.7) 67(44.7) 4(2.7) 5(3.3) 3.40 0.70 

It leads to lost 

of revenue 

62(41.3) 72(48.0) 12(8.0) 4(2.7) 3.28 0.72 

It reduces 

farm land 

66(44.0) 75(50.0) 9(6.0) 0(0.0) 3.38 0.59 

Its affects 

human 

heailth 

87(58.0) 62(41.3) 1(0.7) 0(0.0) 3.57 0.51 



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Research Question 3: Do teachers in Ibadan perceive global warming as a threat? 

 

Table 5: Showing teachers perception of global warming as a threat in Ibadan 

Global warming is a threat because; 

Items SA(%) A(%) D(%) SD(%) Mean Std. Dev. 

It reduces 

food 

production 

240(53.3) 210(46.7) 0(0.0) 0(0.0) 3.53 0.50 

It leads to ash 

environment 

150(33.3) 270(60.0) 24(5.3) 2(1.4) 9.25 0.62 

It brings in 

many 

epidemic of 

new ailment 

120(26.7) 258(57.3) 72(16.0) 0(0.0) 9.11 0.65 

It’s a threat to 

human 
existence 

108(24.0) 186(41.3) 156(34.7) 0(0.0) 2.90 0.76 

It can reduce 
life 

expectancy 

120(26.7) 228(50.7) 102(22.7) 0(0.0) 3.04 0.70 

It makes 

weather 

prediction 

difficult 

126 (28.0) 240(53.3) 84(18.7) 3(0.9) 3.09 0.68 

        

Table 5 revealed teachers perception on global warming as a threat as follows; reduces water resources  (B14) 

80(53.3%) strongly agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.53 and ± 0.50), harsh and unfavorable 

weather condition(B15) 90(60.0%)  agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.25 and ± 0.62),  associated 

with frequent drought and floods(B16)  86(57.3%) agreed with mean and standard deviation score of (3.11 and ± 

0.65) ,while food shortage and extinction of animals(B17) 64(41.3.0%) agreed with mean and standard deviation 

score of (2.90 and ± 0.76) malnutrition, famine and drought(B18) 76(50.7%) agreed with mean and standard 

deviation score of (3.04 and ± 0.70) and learning materials (B19) 58(38.7%) agreed with mean and standard 

deviation score of (3.13 and ± 0.77) respectively.   

 

5. Discussion and Findings  

The study revealed the inference into the study of knowledge of Global warming among teachers in Ibadan. Global 

warming happens as a result of both human activities and a natural change in the environment and that global 

warming is the change/increase in the world’s average temperature respectively. This revealed that the teachers had 

a high knowledge of global warming 

 

The findings in this study revealed that the teachers in Ibadan have knowledge of on global warming. The findings 

of this study also revealed teachers are strongly aware of global warming in Ibadan, they agreed that global warming 

leads to waterborne diseases informed that global warming is an issue of global concern respectively. The findings 

of this study affirmed the findings of Aluko et al. (2008) who were of the opinion that global warming has 
significant impact on fragile soil and traditional farming systems which also affect food supply in the market among 

traders.  

 

The factors which influence the level of awareness of global warming among teachers in Ibadan are the media, 

internet/journal. The media can play crucial roles in informing the public about climate change. The findings 

buttressed by Saroar and Routray (2010), that access to information determines individual’s knowledge of climate 

change, which eventually influences behaviour. People who either read newspapers or other related prints, listen to 

radios, watch TVs, or have access to the internet are more likely to be familiar with climate change than those who 

do not have access to such media of information. 

  



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Also the study revealed that teachers in Ibadan perceived global warming as threat as it is been associated with 

drought and flood, food shortage and extinction of animal. The findings also supported by Litus (2012) that climate 

change causes rising temperature, droughts and desertification, heavy precipitations, flooding, rising sea level, 

extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods and droughts leading to mal-nutrition, waterborne diseases as 

diarrhea and vector-borne diseases as malaria, drowning, severe mental and physical trauma.  

 

6. Recommendation 

The following recommendations were made from the study:  

 Introduction of environment education in the teacher education system: The curriculum should include 

environment education as to equip the teachers and their class children on how to be environment friendly 

and to know the consequence effect of climate change on them. To achieve this curriculum review is 

required.  

 Organize workshops. Regular workshops, seminar, conferences should be organized for teachers as regards 

climate change and its impacts and ways these impacts can be mitigated. This will help the teachers to be 

informed about new findings on global warming, its impacts and mitigation and how to transfer same to 

their class children.  

 Regular in-service training. Regular in-service training should be organizes for teachers to keep them 

abreast with the research finding on global warming and other issues of life. 
 There should be public awareness of the global warming problem and its solutions. The worship centers 

should be encouraged to be talking along this as all strata of the society attend worship center  

 Researchers should also explore the link between level of awareness on global warming and behaviour 

change to inform any policy that seeks to make the public adopt positive environmental behaviours through 

awareness creation. 

 

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open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license 

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