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Pursuing sustainable development brings a challenge to scientists. The challenge includes determining the most effective ways to achieve desired outcomes across health， education， poverty， energy， the environment， and many other aspects of well-being. It also involves finding out how pursuing some of these goals might affect pursuing others. A recent study published in the journal Nature Sustainability combines and evaluates several different links between education and climate change.
“We examined how changes in educational achievement affect population growth， economic growth， and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. Previous research has looked at the role of
education in dealing with climate change， and its relationship with population growth and economic growth， respectively. Our study， however， brings these multiple effects together in a single analysis，” explains Pachauri， a study co-author.
The team wanted to solve two main questions through their research： First， they wanted to determine the net impact of improved education on emissions that contribute to climate change. Second， they asked how much more poor populations in less developed countries could be reduced if educational achievement improved.
The findings indicate that improving education can greatly reduce poverty—in other words， if efforts are made to improve education， population will be much less affected by climate change.
A more surprising result of the study， the researchers said， is that improved education tends to lead to small increases in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Many other studies have found that slower population growth leads to lower emissions. In this case， however， the authors found that if increased educational achievement is taken into account， the reductions in emissions from a smaller population can be more than offset by the push to economic growth that education also provides.
A second unexpected finding was the size of the positive effect of education on poverty. If optimistic increases in educational level can be achieved in developing countries in the future， the reduction in poverty， as measured by the Human Development Index， can be quite large.
Reading check
1. What can we know about sustainable development？
A. It involves many factors.
B. It’s a piece of cake for scientists.
C. It’s about all sides developing in a balanced way. D. It means that the economy can continue to grow.
2. What is special about the recent study compared to previous ones？
A. It stresses the effect of climate change.
B. It focuses on economic development problems.
C. It separates subjects and studies separately.
D. It combines subjects and studies at the same time.
3. According to the recent study what can we expect as education levels rise？
A. More pollution.
“We examined how changes in educational achievement affect population growth， economic growth， and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. Previous research has looked at the role of
education in dealing with climate change， and its relationship with population growth and economic growth， respectively. Our study， however， brings these multiple effects together in a single analysis，” explains Pachauri， a study co-author.
The team wanted to solve two main questions through their research： First， they wanted to determine the net impact of improved education on emissions that contribute to climate change. Second， they asked how much more poor populations in less developed countries could be reduced if educational achievement improved.
The findings indicate that improving education can greatly reduce poverty—in other words， if efforts are made to improve education， population will be much less affected by climate change.
A more surprising result of the study， the researchers said， is that improved education tends to lead to small increases in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Many other studies have found that slower population growth leads to lower emissions. In this case， however， the authors found that if increased educational achievement is taken into account， the reductions in emissions from a smaller population can be more than offset by the push to economic growth that education also provides.
A second unexpected finding was the size of the positive effect of education on poverty. If optimistic increases in educational level can be achieved in developing countries in the future， the reduction in poverty， as measured by the Human Development Index， can be quite large.
Reading check
1. What can we know about sustainable development？
A. It involves many factors.
B. It’s a piece of cake for scientists.
C. It’s about all sides developing in a balanced way. D. It means that the economy can continue to grow.
2. What is special about the recent study compared to previous ones？
A. It stresses the effect of climate change.
B. It focuses on economic development problems.
C. It separates subjects and studies separately.
D. It combines subjects and studies at the same time.
3. According to the recent study what can we expect as education levels rise？
A. More pollution.