scholarly journals The Influence of Knowledge and Education in Public Risk Perception. A Case Study in Calabria (Southern Italy)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Coscarelli ◽  
Loredana Antronico ◽  
Francesco De Pascale ◽  
Francesca Condino
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Statistical Interpretation ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Risk ◽  
Population Vulnerability ◽  
Perception Survey

Climate change is increasing the occurrence of disastrous events in the world, but several disparities in population vulnerability are being registered. One of the causes of these variances is different public risk perception also due to the degree of education and knowledge of the population. In this study, some of the results obtained in a risk perception survey are presented. The survey was carried out in an area of Calabria (Southern Italy) hit by geo-hydrological events that have occurred in recent years with damage to roads, tourism facilities and private houses. A statistical interpretation of the results highlights the importance of education and knowledge to risk perception on the part of the population investigated.

scholarly journals The Conditional Sink: Counterfactual Display in the Valuation of a Carbon Offsetting Reforestation Project

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véra Ehrenstein ◽  
Fabian Muniesa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Carbon Offsetting ◽  
The World ◽  
Prospective Assessment ◽  
Change Mitigation

This paper examines counterfactual display in the valuation of carbon offsetting projects. Considered a legitimate way to encourage climate change mitigation, such projects rely on the establishment of procedures for the prospective assessment of their capacity to become carbon sinks. This requires imagining possible worlds and assessing their plausibility. The world inhabited by the project is articulated through conditional formulation and subjected to what we call “counterfactual display”: the production and circulation of documents that demonstrate and con!gure the counterfactual valuation. We present a case study on one carbon offsetting reforestation project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We analyse the construction of the scene that allows the “What would have happened” question to make sense and become actionable. We highlight the operations of calculative framing that this requires, the reality constraints it relies upon, and the entrepreneurial conduct it stimulates.

Dynamics of Public Risk Perception and Media Coverage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Kathrin Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Demographic Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Risk

Many societal risks are beyond the scope of personal experience. Thus, people are increasingly dependent on third-party information to assess risks. This study examines the dynamics of public risk perception by focusing on the role of media coverage. It does so by comparing public opinion on selected societal risks, namely climate change, terrorism and demographic change over a 25-year period (1990–2015). The analysis examines risk perception in the US and Germany and provides valuable insights into how and why the public's assessment of risks differs in these countries.

scholarly journals Quantifying the Uncertainty Related to Climate Change in the Assessment of Urban Flooding—A Case Study

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2072
Author(s):  
Liuzzo ◽  
Freni
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Urban Catchment ◽  
Flood Susceptibility ◽  
Rainfall Variations ◽  
Flooding Events

Recent studies have pointed out that climate change is likely to have important implications on the extent and frequency of flooding events. Indeed, the intensification of the water cycle occurring in different areas of the world can dramatically affect the incidence of extreme events and, consequently, the flow in rivers or artificial channels, increasing the probability of disastrous floods. In this context, the criteria for the assessment of flood risk need to be improved to take into account the variability of rainfall due to climate change. In this study, a Bayesian procedure was used to update the parameters of the depth–duration–frequency (DDF) curves and quantify the uncertainty related to their assessment in some climate change scenarios. The critical storm obtained from these updated DDF curves was used as input for the FLO-2D hydraulic model, in order to investigate the effects of climate change on flood risk. The area of study was an urban catchment in Piazza Armerina, a small town located in Southern Italy. Results showed that rainfall variations remarkably affect not only the magnitude of flood events, but also the flood susceptibility of the study area.

Determinants and Measurement of Climate Change Risk Perception, Worry, and Concern

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander van der Linden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Sensory Level ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

Individuals, both within and between different countries, vary substantially in the extent to which they view climate change as a risk. What could explain such variation in climate change risk perception around the world? Climate change is relatively unique as a risk in the sense that it is difficult for people to experience directly or even detect on a purely perceptual or sensory level. In fact, research across the social and behavioral sciences has shown that although people might correctly perceive some changes in long-term climate conditions, psychological factors are often much more influential in determining how the public perceives the risk of climate change. Indeed, decades of research has shown that cognitive, affective, social, and cultural factors all greatly influence the public’s perception of risk, and that these factors, in turn, often interact with each other in complex ways. Yet, although a wide variety of cognitive, experiential, socio-cultural and demographic characteristics have all proven to be relevant, are there certain factors that systematically stand out in explaining and predicting climate change risk perception around the world? And even if so, what do we mean, exactly, by the term “risk perception” and to what extent does the way in which risk perception is measured influence the outcome? Last but certainly not least, how important is public concern about climate change in determining people’s level of behavioral engagement and policy-support for the issue?

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