A French exam for 11th-grade students at Mont-Ste-Anne School in Beaupre, 40 kilometers northeast of Quebec City asked the question: “Can we adapt to climate change?”
The question drew the ire of many students because of the way it was worded, like 17-year-old Francis Claude. The young man, like quite a number of his peers, took the way the question was phrased to mean the government has decided to just accept climate change.
“It’s like they want to abandon the fight against climate change, and just make do and adapt,” said Claude, whose Facebook group dedicated to the exam has exploded to almost 37,000 members in recent days, reports CTV News Canada.
Claude stressed that his generation is dedicated to fighting climate change and not just sitting back and adapting to the resultant impacts. “What’s the point of studying for a future we’re not going to have?” said Claude.
Global News reports that Claude started the Facebook page as a sort of meeting place for Quebec students to share jokes and memes about the exam, however, the page has grown into an environmental forum that allows students to vent their anger at the government and its apparent inaction on climate change.
Claude finds it rather ironic that Quebec schools are testing them on climate change at all. “I couldn’t believe that they’d dare to give us that question when we are the ones who are most concerned with climate change,” he said.
Drôle de question, en effet. À mon avis, on aurait dû demander comment lutter contre les changements climatiques, et non s’il était possible de s’y adapter. Par contre, je suis fier que la jeunesse soit aussi sensibilisée et mobilisée sur cet enjeu. ♻️ polQc environnement Roberge (@jfrobergeQc) May 3, 2019
Quebec Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge reacted on Twitter last week, saying it would have been better had the exam asked students how to fight climate change, rather than how to adapt to it. “On the other hand, I’m proud that the youth are so sensitized and mobilized on this issue,” he wrote.
The use of the word “adapt” questioned
Another student, Olivia Ralston,, questioned the use of the word, “adapt.” She said this confused many students and really didn’t go along with the study materials. “We are living in this world, and we’re not going to live anywhere else, so why shouldn’t we try to change it?” she said.
Seventeen-year-old Montreal student Kiaira Morand-Tremblay questions the lack of urgency of many adults when it comes to doing something about climate change. She cites the massive amount of donations collected to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral, “but for the climate, it’s like they do nothing,” she said.
Adaption or mitigation?
In science, adaption can have several meanings. First, in a physiological sense, an animal or plant can adapt by adjusting to its immediate environment. With climate change already impacting one million species of plants and animals, it has come down to a matter of “adapt or die,” in many cases.
The second meaning refers to the process of becoming adapted to the features of organisms that promote reproductive success. Again, with the effects of climate change, this course would involve a long period of time in adapting genetic traits that are consistent with the reproduction of the species in a changing environment.
Adaptation is also closely linked to social and economic development. In this sense, adapting to climate change will cost billions of dollars annually for the next several decades, although an actual dollar amount is unknown at this time.
Regardless of how much money is involved, the adaptation challenge grows with the magnitude and the rate of climate change. This alone is a major concern of the world’s students today.
Let’s talk about mitigation of climate change. Mitigation basically means the act of making a condition or consequence less severe. Or, in talking about climate change, this means actually doing something to lessen the effects of climate change.
Some advocates of climate change mitigation want to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing the use of fossil fuels. This would mean that people would have to adapt to using alternative energy sources, for example.
Actually, a study has concluded, with very high confidence, that in the absence of mitigation efforts, the effects of climate change would reach such a magnitude as to make adaptation impossible for some natural ecosystems. So it is easy to see and understand where adaptation and mitigation need to work hand-in-hand to fight the effects of climate change.
Quebec’s students are not giving up, and have planned further action, including another major protest in Montreal and Quebec City on May 17. The organizers have some demands that include a government commitment to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius and to partner with environmentalists to establish an education program to sensitize the public to the climate crisis, Claude said.
