Local Perceptions of Climate Change Impacts in St. Kitts (Caribbean Sea) and Malé, Maldives (Indian Ocean)

Charlotte Stancioff,Radomir Tichy,Robert Stojanov,Jaromir Landa,Daniel Němec,Corinne Hofman,David Prochazka,Graeme Brown,Ilan Kelman

doi:10.3390/atmos9120459

Abstract

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are now experiencing the local consequences of a changing climate, environment, and society. Nonetheless, climate change research frequently remains at regional or national levels. Without locally grounded data, islanders’ perceived impacts of the changes might not be considered, thereby causing difficulties when policy and practice responses are implemented without accounting for local understandings. To contribute to addressing this gap, this study examines perceptions of climate change and associated environmental and social changes in two SIDS case studies: St. Kitts in the Caribbean Sea and Malé Atoll, Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Through these two case studies, we assess perceptions of changing social and natural environments through a closed-question, face-to-face survey. Our results suggest that in both island case studies, communities perceive environmental changes to be happening that demand negotiation with the social changes of daily life. Results also suggest that perceived climate change impacts are only part of the equation, as social and economic impacts reveal two case studies of changing island societies. While the geographic context in each case study differs, this study reveals the perceived impacts of climate change and social changes at a local level, providing valuable insights and angles for formulating policies and actions to deal with the myriad of social and environmental changes affecting SIDS.

Highlights

With insights from two different Small Island Developing States (SIDS) regions, we reveal that the complexities of islanders’ lives must include attention to perceived climate change impacts, and to perceived societal pressures
We find overall that respondents perceive environmental changes as occurring rapidly and as being negative
We show the relative share that these individuals make up compared to the total number of respondents

Summary

Introduction

Climate change projections suggest sea-level rise, ocean acidification, coastal erosion, higher air and sea temperatures, and changing weather patterns and extremes, with impacts being felt on, and expected to become worse for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) [1] These climate change impacts do not and will not occur as isolated events, instead interacting with other social and environmental influences to affect positively and negatively the overall cultural, economic and political structures and processes of countries and communities [2]. SIDS find themselves increasingly in the spotlight, as they are frequently said to be amongst the locations most vulnerable to climate change and wider environmental changes [1] Assumed island characteristics contributing to this vulnerability and presumed to preclude tackling it include scarce land resources, global economic shifts, colonial and post-colonial legacies, and inadequate governance [3,4,5,6] This generalized perception of SIDS conveys one side of the situation. While SIDS peoples have vulnerabilities to climate change, they have ways of dealing with the challenges, so it is important to acknowledge, understand, and apply the wealth and variety of knowledge and wisdom across SIDS cultures and experiences [14]

Methods

Results

Conclusion