EDUCATION AS AN ELEMENT ENHANCING INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE AWARENESS OF THE NEED TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

An undeniable reality nowadays, with an array of phenomena that affects areas that are not traditionally characterized by favorable conditions for unexplainable climate manifestations, is one of the most serious challenges for the present state of evolution. The degree of “newness” of atmospheric processes that occur with a worrisome frequency and intensity is no longer just a subject “among others”, but it must be on top of the list of pressing issues. Solving it has become imperative, since it is an absolute condition for the continuation of our species. In the category of measures that have the potential to level up the winding path towards finding solutions for the issue of environmental dynamics, mainly atmospheric ones, education comes first. The connection between the care for the environment and the accentuated violence (in the last decades) of climate changes is not new. The need for man’s timely intervention towards reducing the risks generated by the decades of indifference towards the environment has gained an undoubtedly high price that must be discounted as soon as possible. The purpose of this article is to stress the role of education – both formal and informal – in promoting, making aware, and implementing means of real protection for the environment where humankind lives.