Abstract
In response to suggestions that, in the West, inaction on climate change is due to climate change's perceived temporal and spatial distance, we examine how people in California responded to the local influence of climate change in relation to the California drought in 2015. Between 2012 and 2016 California experienced an exceptionally severe drought resulting in a variety of social impacts. In this paper, we focus on how people experienced and understood drought (rather than on their views on the connection between anthropogenic climate change and drought). Seventy-one interviews were conducted during ten weeks of fieldwork in late 2015 with people in urban and rural areas of California. Five emerging themes are discussed: (1) conceptions of normality, (2) location (inside versus outside urban areas), (3) emotional responses, (4) understanding the drought as a social and political phenomenon, and (5) marginalised experiences of the drought. Examining perceptions of drought can enhance our understanding of how people react to climate change and the construction of proximity and personal relevance.
Highlights
Between 2012 and 2016 an exceptionally severe drought struck California (Gleick, 2017; Griffin & Anchukaitis, 2014)
The supply of water is contingent on social, political and economic decisions about its use and distribution: Its impacts result from the interplay between the natural event and the demand people place on water supply, and human activities can exacerbate the impacts of drought. (National Drought Mitigation Center, 2015, cited in Mann & Gleick, 2015, p. 3859)
The analysis presented in this paper is primarily concerned with people’s perceptions of drought, in order to provide an insight into how people interpret local and specific climate developments
Summary
Between 2012 and 2016 an exceptionally severe drought struck California (Gleick, 2017; Griffin & Anchukaitis, 2014). It is important to acknowledge that Southern California is a characteristically dry part of the state and that droughts are “a fundamental feature of the climate of western North America” It has been predicted that drought severity in the south-western United States will continue in the future (Cayan et al, 2010). Cook, Ault and Smerdon (2015) have suggested that risk of extreme drought, influenced mainly by higher temperatures, has been increasing in the western United States, irrespective of precipitation trends. There is evidence that the 2012 - 2016 drought was linked to anthropogenic climate change
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