scholarly journals Attitudes, beliefs and readiness to act on climate change: A preregistered replication

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Williams ◽  
Bruce A Jaftha
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
General Public ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Commons Dilemma ◽  
Moderate Sample Size ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Taking Action

Despite segments of scepticism, the majority of the general public in most countries believe that climate change is occurring and caused by human activities. Behavioural changes by individuals can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least some extent, but a range of psychological and economic barriers can prevent individuals from taking action. A survey of New Zealanders by Aitken, Chapman and McClure (2011) reported that belief in human influence on climate change and the risks of climate change were positively correlated with the probability of taking action on climate change. Conversely, perceptions of powerlessness and the commons dilemma were negatively related to the probability of taking action. Feeling powerless was associated with placing less importance on climate change as an influence on actions. Although Aitken et al’s study has been influential, it was exploratory in nature, had a moderate sample size, was not preregistered, and has not previously been replicated. In this study we report a preregistered replication with a sample of 352 Australians. We were able to reproduce each of the key findings stated above.

scholarly journals Grid-Scale Impact of Climate Change and Human Influence on Soil Erosion within East African Highlands (Kagera Basin)

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2775
Author(s):  
Chaodong Li ◽  
Zhanbin Li ◽  
Mingyi Yang ◽  
Bo Ma ◽  
Baiqun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Soil Erosion Rate ◽  
East African Highlands ◽  
The Impact

Under global climate change and pressure from human activities, soil erosion is becoming a major concern in the quest for regional sustainable development in the Kagera basin (KB). However, few studies in this region have comprehensively considered the impact of climate change and human influence on soil erosion, and the associated processes are unclear. Based on the premise of quantifying climate change, human influence, and soil erosion, this study undertook a neighborhood analysis as the theoretical support, for a grey relation analysis which was conducted to realize the qualitative assessment of the influence of climate change and human activities on soil erosion. The results show that 90.32% of the KB saw climate change as having a greater influence on soil erosion than human influence, with the remaining area 9.68% seeing human influence having a greater impact than climate change, mainly as a result of the effect of rangeland and farmland. The average soil erosion rate of the KB shows a very low level (10.54 t ha−1 yr−1), with rangeland and farmland being the main land use/land cover (LULC) types that see soil loss, followed by forest, wetland, and built-up areas. The climate change trends of the KB show the most dramatic changes in the northeast and southwest, gradually decreasing towards the line crossing from the Birunga National Park (Rwanda) to the Keza district (Tanzania). The human influence intensity (HII) shows a high level in the KB (21.93), where it is higher in the west and lower in the east of the basin.

scholarly journals Changing Climate and Changing Behaviour: Perceptions of Powerlessness and the Commons Dilemma

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christopher Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Commons Dilemma ◽  
Barriers To Change ◽  
Knowledge Deficit ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

<p>Mitigating climate change is recognized as an increasingly urgent task that requires several different methods to achieve. Among these is the need to encourage voluntary behaviour change. Doing so necessitates an understanding of the barriers that prevent behaviour change, including those which are psychological. Among the psychological barriers to change are perceptions of powerlessness and the commons dilemma. This thesis takes a mixed method approach to understand importance of these in relation to both each other and other barriers when taking action to mitigate climate change. Results indicate that individuals do not clearly distinguish climate change from general environmental problems and have a tendency to simplify the issues to that considered to be the singularly most important. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma had been evaluated but not extensively or as specifically applicable to climate change. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma were both found to relate to lower amounts of action on climate change and less importance placed upon climate change in actions. Perceived risk and human influence on climate change were the strongest predictors of action. Results generally support the knowledge-deficit model of behaviour change as being applicable to climate change.</p>

scholarly journals Changing Climate and Changing Behaviour: Perceptions of Powerlessness and the Commons Dilemma

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christopher Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Commons Dilemma ◽  
Barriers To Change ◽  
Knowledge Deficit ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

<p>Mitigating climate change is recognized as an increasingly urgent task that requires several different methods to achieve. Among these is the need to encourage voluntary behaviour change. Doing so necessitates an understanding of the barriers that prevent behaviour change, including those which are psychological. Among the psychological barriers to change are perceptions of powerlessness and the commons dilemma. This thesis takes a mixed method approach to understand importance of these in relation to both each other and other barriers when taking action to mitigate climate change. Results indicate that individuals do not clearly distinguish climate change from general environmental problems and have a tendency to simplify the issues to that considered to be the singularly most important. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma had been evaluated but not extensively or as specifically applicable to climate change. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma were both found to relate to lower amounts of action on climate change and less importance placed upon climate change in actions. Perceived risk and human influence on climate change were the strongest predictors of action. Results generally support the knowledge-deficit model of behaviour change as being applicable to climate change.</p>

Local Policy for a Protected Environmental Area Management: The Case of Limiting Motorized Vehicles in Park of Canigou in Pyrenées Orientales

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Motorized Vehicles ◽  
Local Levels

“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”

scholarly journals The effects of ENSO, climate change and human activities on the water level of Lake Toba, Indonesia: a critical literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendri Irwandi ◽  
Mohammad Syamsu Rosid ◽  
Terry Mart
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Future

AbstractThis research quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the factors responsible for the water level variations in Lake Toba, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. According to several studies carried out from 1993 to 2020, changes in the water level were associated with climate variability, climate change, and human activities. Furthermore, these studies stated that reduced rainfall during the rainy season due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the continuous increase in the maximum and average temperatures were some of the effects of climate change in the Lake Toba catchment area. Additionally, human interventions such as industrial activities, population growth, and damage to the surrounding environment of the Lake Toba watershed had significant impacts in terms of decreasing the water level. However, these studies were unable to determine the factor that had the most significant effect, although studies on other lakes worldwide have shown these factors are the main causes of fluctuations or decreases in water levels. A simulation study of Lake Toba's water balance showed the possibility of having a water surplus until the mid-twenty-first century. The input discharge was predicted to be greater than the output; therefore, Lake Toba could be optimized without affecting the future water level. However, the climate projections depicted a different situation, with scenarios predicting the possibility of extreme climate anomalies, demonstrating drier climatic conditions in the future. This review concludes that it is necessary to conduct an in-depth, comprehensive, and systematic study to identify the most dominant factor among the three that is causing the decrease in the Lake Toba water level and to describe the future projected water level.

scholarly journals The climate commons dilemma: how can humanity solve the commons dilemma for the global climate commons?

2021 ◽  
Vol 164 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Li ◽  
David K. Sewell ◽  
Saam Saber ◽  
Daniel B. Shank ◽  
Yoshihisa Kashima
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Commons Dilemma ◽  
The Commons
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