Perception and Knowledge of Algerian Students about Climate Change and Its Putative Relationship with the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: Climate changes (CC) is one of the most important insidious crises affecting all countries in the world in the 21st century, including Algeria, and it is projected to affect many people in the future. Mitigation of the effects of this phenomenon will certainly involve environmental education, especially among university students. Therefore, evaluating their level of knowledge could help us understand to what extent they are prepared to contribute in the global efforts to fight against this catastrophe. Objective: The current study aims to investigate the perception and knowledge of Algerian students about climate change and its potential relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 204 Algerian students by adopting snowball sampling during the academic year (2022/2023), with a questionnaire based on Google Forms. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The results obtained showed that 95.6% of the students asked had heard about this phenomenon and more than 90% perceived that it was really happening. The level of knowledge is significantly associated with age, where students aged between 20 and 30 years old had a lower level of knowledge than those over 30 years old (OR = 0.22, p = 0.027). Furthermore, students of the Humanities have shown the lowest level of knowledge compared to those of other domains. Regarding their attitude, only 31.8% of the asked students declared that they changed their attitude positively during the COVID-19 pandemic. The change in attitude and concern is statistically associated neither with the level of knowledge and perception nor COVID-19 affection, psychological impact, and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: The study concluded that there was a high level of awareness and a medium level of knowledge about CC among Algerian university students. However, most of them were either very worried or a little worried about this phenomenon. It was also suggested that the average level of knowledge about cause and effect and pandemic resistance could be attributed to the scientific study path of students from the study sample. The results of this study could be used as a baseline for future research into CC knowledge and perception in Algeria.