Science, Politics, and Public Perceptions of Climate Change

2012 ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. J. Somerville
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Perceptions

scholarly journals Public Perceptions of Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2677
Author(s):  
Adrian Brügger ◽  
Robert Tobias ◽  
Fredy S. Monge-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Peruvian Andes ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Education Levels

How people subjectively perceive climate change strongly influences how they respond to its challenges. To date, relatively little is known about such perceptions in the Global South. This research examines public perceptions of climate change in the Peruvian Andes, a semi-arid high-mountain region that is highly exposed and vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change. Based on questionnaire data collected through face-to-face interviews (N = 1316), we found that respondents identify various climate-related issues as the most important challenges for their country. Many of these issues are related to water. Respondents also noticed more subtle changes and expected them to continue (e.g., extreme temperatures, food shortages). Climate impacts were clearly seen as negative, which was also reflected in the presence of emotions. When compared to previous research, more respondents had personally experienced extreme weather events (80%) and they were more certain that the climate is already changing, is caused by human activity, and is affecting distant and close places similarly. A comparison of the perceptions along different socioeconomic characteristics suggests that more vulnerable groups (e.g., rural, low income and education levels) tended to perceive climate change as more consequential, closer, and as a more natural (vs. anthropogenic) phenomenon than those from less vulnerable groups. The salience of water-related problems and personal experiences of climate-related events, as well as differences between various subgroups, could be used to improve measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change by correcting misconceptions of the population and of decisionmakers.

Public perceptions of who counts as a scientist for controversial science

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Science Media

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.

Public Perceptions on Climate Change: A Sentiment Analysis Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-233
Author(s):  
Tasha Erina Taufek ◽  
Nor Fariza Mohd Nor ◽  
Azhar Jaludin ◽  
Sabrina Tiun ◽  
Lam Kuok Choy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Analysis Approach

Geographies of Climate Change Belief

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Hopkins ◽  
Ezra M. Markowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Change Perceptions ◽  
Nationally Representative

Despite scientific consensus on the anthropogenic causation of climate change, and ever-growing knowledge on the biophysical impacts of climate change, there is large variability in public perceptions of and belief in climate change. Public support for national and international climate policy has a strong positive association with certainty that climate change is occurring, human caused, serious, and solvable. Thus to achieve greater acceptance of national climate policy and international agreements, it is important to raise public belief in climate change and understandings of personal climate risk. Public understandings of climate change and associated risk perceptions have received significant academic attention. This research has been conducted across a range of spatial scales, with particular attention on large-scale, nationally representative surveys to gain insights into country-scale perceptions of climate change. Generalizability of nationally representative surveys allows some degree of national comparison; however, the ability to conduct such comparisons has been limited by the availability of comparative data sets. Consequently, empirical insights have been geographically biased toward Europe and North America, with less understanding of public perceptions of climate change in other geographical settings including the Global South. Moreover, a focus on quantitative surveying techniques can overlook the more nuanced, culturally determined factors that contribute to the construction of climate change perceptions. The physical and human geographies of climate change are diverse. This is due to the complex spatial dimensions of climate change and includes both the observed and anticipated geographical differentiation in risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities. While country location and national climate can impact upon how climate change is understood, so too will sociocultural factors such as national identity and culture(s). Studies have reported high variability in climate change perceptions, the result of a complex interplay between personal experiences of climate, social norms, and worldviews. Exploring the development of national-scale analyses and their findings over time, and the comparability of national data sets, may provide some insights into the factors that influence public perceptions of climate change and identify national-scale interventions and communications to raise risk perception and understanding of climate change.

scholarly journals What Butterfly Effect? The Contextual Differences in Public Perceptions of the Health Risk Posed by Climate Change

Climate ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 668-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Stoutenborough ◽  
Kellee Kirkpatrick ◽  
M. Field ◽  
Arnold Vedlitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Butterfly Effect ◽  
Contextual Differences

scholarly journals International trends in public perceptions of climate change over the past quarter century

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Capstick ◽  
Lorraine Whitmarsh ◽  
Wouter Poortinga ◽  
Nick Pidgeon ◽  
Paul Upham
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Trends

scholarly journals Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time: the availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3439-3447
Author(s):  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre ◽  
Elena Mondino ◽  
Maria Rusca ◽  
Emanuele Del Giudice ◽  
Johanna Mård ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Multiple Hazards ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as the availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, as well as governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change, and they rank it as the most likely threat.

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