Mitras always knew it and once again it has been proven - the youth today are smarter than their parents. A new survey of nearly 50,000 teenagers from around the world today reveals that 74 per cent of teens believe that global warming is a serious problem and are more concerned about it than any other issue including drugs, violence or war. The research conducted jointly by
Habbo, the world’s largest virtual world for teens and
Greenpeace examined the attitudes and behaviour of the global teen population towards environmental issues and gave teens a chance to speak out on the most pressing problem facing the world.
Whereas the teens surveyed regard climate change as more important than terrorism (56 per cent versus 46 per cent, respectively) they think that governments consider climate change a lower priority. 33 per cent think governments are ‘very concerned’ about climate change compared to 42 per cent who see governments being ‘very concerned’ about terrorism.
North America has come under the most fire, with 39 per cent of teens citing the continent as being responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases, followed by Europe (24 per cent) and Asia (19 per cent). Despite teens in every country pointing fingers at North America for the crisis (except in Asia where they blame themselves), a quarter of North American teens are still not sure if global warming is even a problem.
Although 64 per cent of teens believe it’s still possible to stop global warming, nearly 40 per cent don’t actually know what’s causing it or how to prevent it. One thing is clear though: teens do not regard this as a future problem; two thirds of those polled believe that global warming will affect their lives in a negative way.
Scientists of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that emissions of greenhouse gases need to be halved globally by the middle of this century to avoid severe impacts such as water shortages, floods and the spread of diseases.
The 49,243 teens participating in the November 2007 Habbo survey came from 18 countries. Those completing the survey were given the option of finding out more about climate change at the ‘Habbos against climate change’ campaign group page. 16,000 Habbos registered as the supporters of the group.
Habbo is a richly colorful, multi-dimensional virtual community and game environment for teens. Users join by creating a fully-customized online character called a Habbo. From there, they can explore many public hang-outs, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms, and have fun through creativity and self expression.
Today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s decision makers and at Mitras we have discovered that they are already heralding a new revolution. Students of Center for Learning and Mallya Aditi school have already taken steps to promote non-polluting, renewable energy to prevent global warming from affecting the lives of billions of people and threatening the survival of countless species of animals and plants.
Mitras are proud to hang out with the smart ones!.
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