STEM careers are crucial to combat climate change

FROM April to June this year, three international days focus our attention on the environment and on humanity's responsibility to curtail the effects of climate change on the planet.

- BALAN MOODLEY

International Mother Earth Day, on April 22, raised awareness of the challenges to the wellbeing of the planet and the life it supports, under the theme 'Our power, our planet' to champion renewable energy. International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, aims to boost understanding of biodiversity issues; and World Environment Day on June 5 is the largest global platform for environmental outreach and puts a spotlight on pressing environmental issues.

In light of these, together with the global warming reality that South Africa and the world is experiencing and our need for environmental sustainability, it's worth considering how important it is to develop careers in ecology and the environment to ensure that efforts to meet the challenges of global warming and climate change increase at a quickening pace.

The STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and maths — are crucial to efforts to combat climate change, as they have been for many years.