Nurses’ Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability in Healthcare: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

GI multisociety strategic plan on environmental sustainability.

BackgroundThe sustainability of biological, social, and economic systems is essential to safeguarding our collective future and maintaining a balanced relationship between humans and the natural environment. Addressing environmental concerns requires the active involvement of all societal sectors, integrating sustainability awareness into everyday practices and business processes through optimal technology use. This study aims to examine the mediating role of climate change and environmental awareness in the relationship between sustainable practices and green competence among nurses.Subject and MethodsA random sample of 230 nurses was selected from Al-Ahrar Teaching Hospital in Zagazig, Egypt. A descriptive correlational design was used. Five validated instruments were used to assess sociodemographic characteristics, green competence, nurses’ perceptions of climate change, environmental awareness, and sustainable development behaviors.ResultsThe results of the current study show that green competence was significantly and positively correlated to nurses’ sustainable practice, environmental awareness and climate change.ConclusionEnvironmental awareness and climate change were mediated of relationship between sustainable practice and green competence.Implications for Nursing ManagementThe findings of this study have significant implications for nursing management and the broader healthcare sector. By elucidating the relationships among green competence, nurses’ sustainable practices, environmental awareness, and climate change, this research offers actionable insights for healthcare leaders. Nursing managers can enhance workplace safety and environmental responsibility by supporting green management systems and implementing ongoing green management programs to improve nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward sustainability. Furthermore, healthcare facilities should be encouraged to adopt environmental awareness and green management practices to address climate change and foster sustainable practices across the healthcare workforce.Clinical trial numberNot applicable.

IntroductionClimate change poses major health threats, yet awareness among nurses does not always translate into sustainable practice. Nurse managers’ leadership behaviors may play a pivotal role in embedding environmental accountability within healthcare.ObjectivesTo examine the relationships between nurses’ perceptions of climate change and their attitudes toward sustainability practices, and to assess the mediating role of nurse managers’ sustainable management behaviors.MethodsA descriptive correlational study was conducted at an Egyptian university hospital using a convenience sample of 415 staff nurses and 23 nurse managers. Data were collected using validated tools for climate change cognition, sustainability attitudes, and sustainable management behaviors. Descriptive statistics, correlations, regression analyses, and structural equation modeling were performed.ResultsNurses reported moderate sustainability attitudes (M = 3.29; 57.3%) but relatively low climate change cognition and behaviors (M = 2.80; 45.1%). Nurse managers’ sustainable management behaviors were moderate (M = 3.58; 64.5%) and had a significant positive effect on nurses’ climate change cognition and behaviors (β = 0.61, p < .001). Mediation analysis confirmed that sustainability attitudes had a significant direct effect on sustainable management behaviors (β = 0.57, p < .001), which mediated their impact on awareness, concern, and behavior, though not intrinsic motivation (p = .207). Climate education predicted nurses’ climate engagement but not nurse managers’ sustainable management behaviors.ConclusionSustainable leadership is critical for translating nurses’ awareness of climate change into environmentally responsible healthcare practices. Integrating sustainability into nursing curricula, leadership training, and health system policies is vital to translate awareness into action.

Climate change affects both men and women which, in turn, shapes their varied and contrasting perceptions of climate variability and change. This paper examined the gendered perceptions of climate variability and change among local communities in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.The objectives are threefold: - identify climatic shocks faced by the local communities; examine the perceptions of men and women of climate variability and change; and to compare their perceptions with empirical meteorological data. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, with data collected from 215 respondents using survey, interviews and focused group discussions. From the findings, indicators of climate variability and change included reduced flooding events, occurrence of human diseases, increasing crop pests and diseases, dry spells and intensity of rains. There was increasing significant temperatures while rainfall was declining. Both male and female significantly associated with increasing temperatures and reduced flooding events. While climatic shocks affected both males and females, the impact was more pronounced depending on distinct livelihood activities and roles and responsibilities undertaken. The study concluded that people’s perceptions of climate change should be taken on by the government and integrated in the national climate programs that support people’s livelihoods and survival mechanisms.

As we write this editorial in early December 2023, the 28th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP28), is underway. In the run-up to this event, the UN published its first Global Stocktake report [1]. This summarises the progress made towards the mitigation of global warming since the Paris Agreement of 2015 [2]. It tells us that while this international treaty has had positive impacts on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, the rate of progress is likely insufficient to avoid global surface temperatures > 1.5°C above pre-industrial averages, at which point it is thought our capacity to adapt to climate change will be overwhelmed [3]. Many of the recommendations of the report describe various kinds of support that will be needed to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including increased financial investment; more transparent reporting of emissions; and measures to support transition away from fossil fuels [1]. Underpinning much of this transformation is a need for research. In some cases, this relates to the development of new solutions. In others, it relates to finding the best ways to implement existing solutions more widely, with particular attention drawn to the need to ensure that low- and middle-income countries are not left behind. Finally, there is a need to better understand the impacts of current practices and how these can be mitigated. In this environmental supplement of Anaesthesia, 11 commissioned articles offer readers an overview of the latest information about sustainable practices in peri-operative care. Two threads that bind these articles together are: an urgent need for action, considering that we are amid a worsening environmental crisis; and an acknowledgement that our understanding of sustainable peri-operative care remains limited. This puts colleagues in a difficult position; we don't have the option to do nothing, but in the absence of a more complete understanding – and given the complexity of healthcare systems – it is possible we may end up doing the wrong thing or missing an opportunity to do something better. Research into sustainable peri-operative care will reduce the risk of this occurring and given that the environmental crisis constitutes a health emergency [4], this should be a priority for researchers, healthcare professionals and broader society [5]. In this editorial, we summarise the research needs identified by the authors in our supplement, explain the factors that mark out high-quality sustainable healthcare research and direct readers to some of the resources and opportunities to support research in this area. We focus here on the UK, but many of the principles will be applicable worldwide. The environmental impacts of any item or process should be considered in terms of its entire 'life cycle', from extraction of raw materials through to disposal. In terms of the impacts on climate change, this is typically expressed in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, often converted into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) using a metric called global warming potential (GWP) which integrates how much infrared radiation a gas absorbs and re-emits, and how long it persists in the atmosphere. As such, the GWP is expressed over a certain timeframe – usually 100 years (GWP100). Anaesthesia is one of a relatively small group of healthcare practices in which greenhouse gases are emitted at the point of use. In their articles on the climate science of anaesthesia, Nielsen and Sulbaek Andersen [6] and Slingo and Slingo [7] offer differing views on how we should assess the climate impacts of volatile agents, which are relatively short-lived greenhouse gases. Both articles acknowledge that volatile agents have very small overall climate impacts compared with carbon dioxide, but differ on whether GWP100 is a suitable metric to inform practice and whether choice of volatile agent is a worthwhile target for mitigation. This debate illustrates that there remains uncertainty about how to assess and report the climate impacts of anaesthesia and, perhaps, about where best to focus our efforts. Kanal and Fang remind us that climate change is not the only aspect of the ongoing environmental crisis that requires attention, noting, for example, that simply focusing on CO2e doesn't account for ecotoxicity or plastics pollution [8]. The Stockholm Resilience Centre defines nine 'Planetary Boundaries' (one of which is climate change), within which we must remain if humanity is to be able to meet the needs of generations to come (Fig. 1) [9]. While there are examples of assessments of the environmental impacts of anaesthesia that move beyond greenhouse gases [10], there is a clear need for research that acknowledges the complexity of the planet's systems and avoids so-called 'carbon tunnel vision', focusing only on greenhouse gas impacts because of their (relative) simplicity of quantification. While the environmental impacts of some industries (e.g. steel, aviation) are deemed 'hard to abate', meaning that environmentally responsible transformation would be prohibitively difficult or costly [1], healthcare is generally thought to be open to innovation. Perhaps the most obvious example of innovation is the development of new technologies which aim to reduce waste or improve efficiency. In their review, Ghandi et al. consider volatile capture technology [11], a group of devices that adsorb volatile agents from waste anaesthetic gases. The fluorinated compounds can then be desorbed, purified and (potentially) re-administered to patients. The obvious benefits of this approach include reduced material use to produce volatile anaesthetics and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, while the ability to deactivate energy intensive active scavenging systems may be less obvious but no less valuable [11]. But there may also be downsides; White and Montgomery raise the concern that volatile capture technology may be a distractive intervention that could promote maladaptive behaviours (e.g. if the volatile is being captured, why worry about low flows?) [12], and Ghandi et al. note that while volatile capture technologies all appear to perform efficiently in the laboratory setting, impacts in clinical practice are variable [11]. They outline the 'ideal characteristics' of a volatile capture technology system, and in doing so illustrate that the current technologies fall somewhat short of this aspirational standard. They also propose a series of research priorities which focus on investigating volatile capture technology in real-world scenarios, which would aid understanding of how these technologies could be deployed responsibly. Perhaps less controversial than the adoption of new technologies is optimising the use of established ones. Nitrous oxide has been part of the anaesthetic armamentarium since the mid 1800s, and its role in hastening the onset and offset of slow-acting volatile agents means that it was piped into many operating theatres built when these agents were commonplace. However, since the development of low-solubility volatile agents in the 1990s, and with the rising popularity of total intravenous anaesthesia [13], the clinical use of nitrous oxide has declined. This renders its delivery by complex (and often leaky) manifold and pipeline systems grossly inefficient, with portable cylinders more appropriate in many cases. Chakera et al. report the experiences and impacts of undertaking the Nitrous Oxide Project in three different institutions [14]. Discussion of the challenges encountered illustrates that even when the right thing to do is obvious, there is often a gap in understanding how to encourage individuals and institutions to use drugs, technologies and techniques more responsibly [15]. Perhaps the most positive aspect of making healthcare more environmentally sustainable is that it often results in superior (or, at least, no worse) outcomes for patients, and may also have financial advantages. The so-called 'triple bottom line', comprising environmental, social and financial considerations, is often used as a theoretical model to assess the value of interventions. For example, White and Montgomery point out that the most effective intervention would be to 'move medical funding away from reactive disease-care, towards personalised, preventative healthcare' [12]. If realised, this would result in fewer anaesthetics because healthier people need less surgical healthcare; this is clearly a 'win-win' but is also notoriously difficult to achieve. Perhaps more within our current capabilities is the call by van Hove et al. to invest in 'Getting It Right First Time' (GIRFT), and design out unwarranted variation in healthcare to reduce complications, cancellations and unexpected admissions to critical care, all of which are harmful to patients and the planet [16]. The authors note, however, that there is currently a dearth of information about 'carbon hotspots' in surgical procedures, which hampers our ability to standardise care in an environmentally responsible way. Considering the role of surgical teams in sustainable peri-operative practice, Ledda et al. use the Behaviour Change Wheel model to consider how teams respond to capabilities, opportunities and motivations [17, 18]. They note that behaviour is seldom simply a rational response to information and go on to describe a programme of research informed by behavioural change theory which will focus on three pillars: re-usable operating theatre textiles; anaesthesia; and waste reduction. The Behaviour Change Wheel model has been used recently to help understand why anaesthetists may adopt more sustainable practices, emphasising the growing research interest in the application of behavioural theories in accelerating change towards sustainable peri-operative care [15, 19, 20]. What do patients think about the ongoing efforts to promote sustainability in anaesthesia? In a review written by a team of patient representatives who draw on their own experiences in combination with key policy documents [21, 22], Knagg et al. explain that the sustainable healthcare agenda remains unknown to many patients and members of the public, who, quite understandably, tend to focus on getting better when they encounter healthcare services. But it is also clear that the environment matters to patients and the public, and leaves no doubt that patients expect to be represented in the processes (including the conduct of research) that may lead to changes in their healthcare [23]. A recent report from the World Health Organization highlights the urgent need for research to tackle unanswered questions in climate and health research and, given the required pace of change, to ensure that research carried out in this area is implemented into policy and practice [24]. For sustainability research to be implementable, it should take into consideration healthcare infrastructure and care pathways, as well as resource and logistical constraints [25]. The scalability of research and considering the potential for widespread adoption and application in diverse settings, populations and communities is also integral to the adoption of changing practice. Research conducted in sustainable healthcare should fully incorporate the principles of the triple bottom line. From an environmental perspective, it should reflect not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also the wider complexities of healthcare on the planet. From a social perspective, it should account for the well-documented intersectionality between environmental harms and other health inequalities [26, 27]. Designing research with equality and diversity at its heart is integral to developing meaningful outputs that can be translated to policy decisions and clinical practice. Bringing the patient and public voice into the sustainability agenda for clinical research is also vital in ensuring not only that interventions are acceptable, but that the public are empowered to engage on this topic and become drivers for positive change [5, 23, 28, 29]. There is increasing acknowledgement that the complexities of sustainable healthcare require research that transcends sectors and leverages expertise across disciplines. Interdisciplinary research is therefore a hallmark of quality [30, 31]. Engineering solutions, computer science and behavioural science are all examples of where engaging across sectors to deliver on new interventions in sustainable healthcare research has proven benefit. In addition to the above, the environmental cost of undertaking healthcare research is an important consideration. Adshead et al. estimated the carbon cost of clinical trials registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov database to be 27.5 million tCO2e, equivalent to just under one-third of the total annual carbon emissions of Bangladesh [32]. We must ensure that unnecessary environmental impact is not added through research which, like the rest of healthcare, must strike a balance between environmental responsibility, affordability and quality. General approaches to make research more sustainable include making efficient use of existing evidence and incorporating lower-carbon study design as described in the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Carbon Reduction Guidelines [33]. There is a growing body of literature examining sustainability in specific types of research such as the work on low carbon clinical trials and laboratory sustainability [32, 34]. A comprehensive approach to environmentally responsible research would be akin to a life cycle assessment and should encompass the entire research pathway from concept to dissemination. A report commissioned by the Wellcome Trust shows the growing amount of resource and support available to researchers [35]. From communities and networks to carbon footprint calculators, there is a wealth of information for researchers to access. Major UK funders of health research are engaged in the topic and the Medical Research Council, Wellcome and NIHR, among others, have signalled their interest in this area through multiple calls and a desire to increase the knowledge base in this area [36-38]. There is no shortage of research gaps in sustainable anaesthesia research, and multiple resources exist to help researchers identify them. Specific to peri-operative care, the Greener Operations James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership set out the top 10 questions according to patients, carers, the public and clinicians, and these have been highlighted and expanded in the recent Greener Surgery Report [5, 39]. Support exists too for specific research design queries. The new NIHR research support service provides advice to developing funding applications within the remit of the NIHR. In addition to general advice on study development and delivery, a new research support service hub delivered by Lancaster University and Partners offers specific advice on sustainable healthcare research and integrating sustainable healthcare principles into research practice. Support for researchers is summarised in Figure 2 (links to resources available in online Supporting Information, Appendix S1). It is clear from the articles in this special supplement that there is no shortage of passion among clinician-researchers, no shortage of opportunity to conduct research and no shortage of positive impacts that can be made. Nevertheless, there is much to do in sustainable peri-operative research with numerous challenges and contradictions: urgent action is needed but information is incomplete [6, 7, 11]; rapid progress has been made and yet operating theatres remain highly resource-intensive [8, 12]; implementation is challenging even when solutions are obvious [14, 16, 17]; 'easy' things can draw focus when sometimes 'difficult' things matter much more [7, 8, 12]; and all of this must be achieved without harming patient care [23]. The Global Stocktake report emphasises the need for investment in research [1] and it is heartening to see that taking place; not just in terms of funds, but in terms of development of expertise and sharing of resources through formal and informal networks. Closing the gaps in sustainable peri-operative research will rely on these collaborative efforts. It is increasingly recognised that sustainability is a 'core outcome' of everything that we do and we encourage researchers to consider the unmet research needs; collaborate across disciplines; and take the opportunities to undertake funded high-quality research in sustainable anaesthesia and peri-operative care. CS is Executive Editor of Anaesthesia Reports, a co-opted member of the Association of Anaesthetists Environment and Sustainability Committee, and the Sustainability Theme Lead for the NIHR Research Support Service Hub delivered by Lancaster University and Partners. SL was previously seconded to NHS England as Chief Sustainability Officer's Clinical Fellow. No external funding and no other competing interests to declare. Appendix S1. Links to online resources to support sustainable healthcare research. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

The main objective of this paper is to assess pro-environmental behavior, climate change anxiety, perception, hope, and despair in different political orientations. Our specific aims included to assess the validity of all the instruments used; to assess whether the factor structure of the scales were valid across political orientations; to evaluate their reliability; to assess differences concerning age, gender, and political orientation; to learn the variables that explain pro-environmental behavior; and to evaluate the moderating role of climate change perception, despair, and hope in the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), multi-group CFAs (to calculate measurement invariance), multiple linear regressions, and moderations were performed. Results showed that pro-environmental behavior and climate change hope achieved the four assessed levels of invariance across different political orientations; climate change anxiety achieved the first three levels of invariance; and climate change perception and climate change despair achieved configural invariance. Climate change anxiety, personal experience with climate change, and climate change perception (total, reality, and consequences) presented higher values for the left political orientation than for the right or the center. Climate change anxiety variables contributed most to explaining pro-environmental behaviors. Hope, despair, and climate change perception (consequences) moderated the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. These results open up new avenues for investigation, specifically to understand why high levels of anxiety lead to more pro-environmental behaviors.

Smallholder farmers’ perception of climate change and adoption of climate smart agriculture practices in Masaba South Sub-county, Kisii, Kenya

Health professionals' perceptions of climate change: A systematic review of qualitative studies.

Climate change has widely impacted human and natural systems across regions worldwide. Agriculture is the most sensitive to climate change among all global production sectors. Many rural residents lack a clear understanding of climate change or its negative impacts, resulting in their inability to take timely adaptation measures and causing significant losses. This study investigates rural residents’ perceptions of climate change and their adaptation behaviors in the southeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau using household survey and interview data. The results show that although climate change in the region is pronounced, rural residents’ perception remains relatively weak: only 61.74% of rural residents s perceive climate change, and 51.41% have consciously adopted adaptation measures. A Heckman selection model indicates that rural residents’ adaptation decisions are based on their perception of climate change, which is significantly associated with direct perceptions of rising temperatures and declining precipitation over the past five years, as well as with the diversity of climate information sources. Rural residents’ adaptation behavior is positively related to education of the household head, household size, and duration of residence. Further binary regression analyses reveal that technical adaptation is positively associated with age, education, household size, the proportion of household members engaged in agriculture, and perceived personal impacts of climate change, whereas economic and other adaptation strategies are positively related to education but negatively related to age and the perception that climate change has increased crop pests and diseases. Based on these findings, this study proposes targeted recommendations to better promote rural residents’ climate change adaptation and enhance the resilience of agricultural systems in the region.

Despite overwhelming consensus among scientists about the reality of anthropogenic climate change (Bray, 2010; Oreskes, 2004), there remains significant reluctance on the part of citizens and politicians to take the action needed to address it. This resistance has been repeatedly identified in social research (Leiserowitz & Maibach, 2010; Leviston, Leitch, Greenhill, Leonard, & Walker, 2011; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon, 2006; McCright & Dunlap, 2011; Reser, Bradley, Glendon, Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012) and is mirrored by the lack of progress made by salient political summits (Rogelj et al., 2010). Perhaps as a response to this, scholarly journals and articles that are focused on climate change are growing. Natural scientists tell us that we know what needs to be done to avert dangerous climate change (IPCC, 2014), and economists tell us that delaying action in the short term will lead to much greater costs in the long term (Stern, 2007). Understanding public responses to climate change and developing solutions to catalyse action is a critical challenge for the social sciences, and we propose that the development and elaboration of a social psychology of climate change would be a cornerstone of such an approach. We do not make the claim that social psychology has all the answers but rather that the theories, models and research methods of social psychology can provide a powerful arsenal to complement the approaches of other disciplines. Researchers have already begun to apply social psychological theory and methods to the issue of climate change, and we highlight in the following sections examples of the insights that have flowed from this. We cannot assume, though, that our theories and findings will automatically generalise to the climate change context. As Moser (2010) has noted, there are unique dimensions to climate change that make it distinct from other environmental, risk and health issues: The causes of climate change are invisible to humans, the impacts are distal and it is complex and riddled with uncertainties. Modern urban humans are to some extent insulated from their physical environment, and the lags between the climate and social systems make it difficult for people to understand their role in influencing climate. These factors suggest the importance of developing a social psychology of climate change, empirically testing, integrating and refining existing theories and models to develop new frameworks. The notion that psychology can play a role in understanding and addressing climate change is not a new one. The American Psychological Association's Task Force on the interface between psychology and global climate change comprehensively detailed the ways in which psychological research can help to understand people's perceptions of the risks of climate change, the contribution of human behaviour to climate change, the psychosocial impacts of climate change, the ways in which people can adapt and cope with climate change and the psychological barriers that could limit climate change action (Swim et al., 2009, 2011). It is also not a new idea that social psychology can play an important role in understanding and addressing environmental problems and solutions (Clayton & Brook, 2005). Social psychology, specifically, has a long tradition of theory and research that is relevant to addressing key climate change questions. Attitudes, social cognition, persuasion and attitude change, social influence, and intragroup and intergroup behaviour, for instance, are fundamental foci for social psychology and have direct relevance for understanding the human and social dimensions of climate change. The time is ripe to understand the range of research that has been developing in social psychology on attitudes, beliefs and actions, to build upon these insights, and integrate them with knowledge from other sciences to develop models and theories indigenous to the climate change context. In the following section, we provide a brief overview of recent social psychological research that addresses three broad themes relevant to understanding and responding to climate change. These themes are as follows: (i) social psychological influences on climate change attitudes and beliefs; (ii) facilitators and barriers to climate change action; and (iii) changing climate change attitudes and behaviour. Although there is some overlap in these themes, as an organising principle they intuitively map on to key questions that arise in relation to climate change. Our aim is to highlight recent examples of social psychological research that provide interesting and important insights in relation to these themes. Swim, Markowitz, and Bloodhart (2012) have noted that much of the social psychological research on climate change has emerged since 2006; we focus in on the most recent of this research that has been published since 2010. We also outline how the studies in the special issue relate to these themes. We recognise that these are not the only areas where social psychological research and theory can make important contributions but they nevertheless relate to key questions that need to be addressed. We conclude the introduction by proposing considerations that social psychologists could take into account in their future research on climate change. A major focus in the climate change literature and the media more broadly has been on describing climate change attitudes and beliefs. In many developed nations, questions about beliefs and attitudes related to climate change have become a standard component of political polling (e.g. Gallup polls and Lowy Institute polls), and there are comprehensive national and cross-national surveys that address this topic. Examples include US research by the Yale Climate Change Communication project (Leiserowitz, Maibach, Roser-Renouf, & Smith, 2010), national surveys conducted in Australia (Leviston et al., 2011; Reser et al., 2012), and the U.K. (Pidgeon, 2012) and the Eurobarometer research conducted in Europe (The European Opinion Research Group, 2002). As the study of attitudes—their conceptualization, measurement, formation, function and relationship with behaviour—has been a cornerstone of social psychological research, social psychology can make important contributions to these assessments. Note that although social psychological theories usually distinguish between attitudes and beliefs, these terms are often used interchangeably in the climate change research domain, and for the sake of simplicity, we will usually use attitudes to encompass both attitudes and beliefs. Recent reviews of the attitude literature from 1996 to 2009 highlight significant trends and directions in this area of research (Ajzen, 2001; Bohner & Dickel, 2011; Crano & Prislin, 2006). These trends include the role of attitude strength and attitude ambivalence, the distinction between implicit and explicit attitudes, the recognition that attitudes have cognitive and affective underpinnings, and the influence of bodily and external physical cues on attitudes. Recent social psychological research on climate change particularly provides examples of the influence of bodily and external cues and the distinction between cognitive and affective aspects of attitudes, and three of the papers in the special issue address the latter issue. The work on internal bodily and external physical cues is a growing research area with a special issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology devoted to the concept of embodied cognition (Schubert & Semin, 2009). As the distal nature of climate change and the relative insulation of humans from their physical environment are thought to be key barriers to greater engagement with climate change (Moser, 2010), it is perhaps not surprising that this area of research has extended into the climate change domain. Cues that help to 'bring to life' the experience of global warming could help to overcome these psychological barriers. Risen and Critcher (2011) have shown that feelings of warmth increased beliefs in global warming and that this effect was mediated through greater ease in constructing more fluent mental images of hot outdoor images. Other studies have shown that people had greater concern about global warming and donated more money to a global warming charity when they thought that the temperature outside was warmer than usual (Li, Johnson, & Zaval, 2011), that embodied temperature influenced concern for global warming and willingness to volunteer for a global warming group (Lewandowski, Ciarocco, & Gately, 2012) and that priming heat-related cognitions resulted in greater belief in global warming and willingness to pay to reduce global warming (Joireman, Truelove, & Duell, 2010). Physical external cues, in this case the presence of bare trees in the laboratory, also increased belief in global warming (Guéguen, 2012). These studies illustrate how subtle cues can influence climate change attitudes in the moment, although the longevity of these effects on attitudes has not been explored. Another important direction in attitude research that has relevance for climate change is the recognition that attitudes have affective as well as cognitive underpinnings. This is important when considering that the high levels of risk associated with climate change means that it could elicit strong emotional responses. Cognitive approaches to understanding attitudes (e.g. expectancy-value models) have been at the forefront of how we understand attitude formation (Ajzen, 2001). From this perspective, attitudes are the outcome of a cognitive process of evaluating beliefs about the attitude object; for example, a person who has positive beliefs about a climate change policy is likely to hold favourable attitudes to that policy. Consistent with the importance of cognitive, rational processes, Tobler, Visschers, and Siegrist (2012) have shown that perceived costs and benefits of climate change policies were significant predictors of support for these policies and, in most cases, were stronger predictors of behavioural willingness and policy support than other variables (e.g. demographics, climate change concern and climate change scepticism). But there is also evidence for the affective basis of attitudes and even for the primacy of affective aspects of attitudes (Verplanken, Jofstee, & Janssen, 1998; Zajonc, 1984). Recent reviews of the attitude literature suggest that, rather than attitudes being determined by one or the other, affect and cognition are both likely to be important for the formation of attitudes (Ajzen, 2001; Crano & Prislin, 2006). For example, whether affective or cognitive aspects of attitude objects are accessed more readily depends on whether the attitude object itself is more affectively or cognitively based (Giner-Sorolla, 2004). Three articles in the current issue pick up on the cognitive and affective aspects of climate change attitudes and perceptions. Although it seems intuitively likely that having greater knowledge about climate change should be related to climate change attitudes, findings in relation to knowledge have been mixed. Some research has shown that knowing more about the causes and consequences of climate change is associated with greater climate change risk judgments (Sunblad, Biel, & Gärling, 2009), whereas other studies have shown no effects or have suggested the possibility that having more knowledge could even be negatively related to climate change beliefs for those with a politically conservative orientation (Malka, Krosnick, & Langer, 2009; McCright & Dunlap, 2011). Yet, Guy, Kashima, Walker, and O'Neill (this issue) point out that knowledge is usually measured with proxy measures such as scientific literacy or self-reported climate change knowledge rather than objective knowledge of climate change, and therefore, it is premature to dismiss the positive relationship between knowledge and attitudes. Their study used an objective measure of climate change knowledge and shows that people who are more knowledgeable have greater belief that climate change is happening, and, moreover, knowledge attenuates the negative relationship between ideology (i.e. individualism) and climate change attitudes. Van der Linden (this issue) specifically addresses how affect and cognition relate to climate change perceptions. The study investigates the relationship between personal experiences of extreme weather events, affect relating to climate change, and climate change risk perceptions. The results of the structural equation modelling of a national British sample provides support for a dual-process model whereby cognitive appraisals activate risk perceptions, and risk and affect mutually reinforce each other in a feedback loop. The paper by Leviston, Price, and Bishop (this issue) explores the role of affect in climate change responses somewhat differently in that it looks at the images people bring to mind when they think about climate change and assesses the affect associated with these images. The research explores whether the types of images that people associate with climate change might be a way of psychologically and affectively engaging or distancing themselves from climate change. It is not enough that people endorse attitudes that are in tune with scientific consensus on climate change; these attitudes need to translate into positive action, whether that is individual private-sphere behaviours such as 'green' consumerism, public-sphere non-activist behaviour such as voting for political parties with environmentally responsible policies or collective environmental activism that seeks to influence decision-makers (Stern, 2000). These types of distinctions are important as the different classes of behaviour might have quite different facilitators and barriers (Stern, 2000). Another important distinction when considering climate-change-related behaviour is the extent to which it is habitual and automatic versus reasoned and deliberative (Ouellette & Wood, 1998). Automaticity of environmentally harmful behaviour poses a serious barrier, whereas automaticity of environmentally protective behaviour makes future behaviour of this type more likely (Van Lange & Joireman, 2008). Yet another potentially important consideration is the goals associated with behaviours (Lindenberg & Steg, 2007). Behaviours can be performed for a range of reasons, and individuals' perception of their own motives could have implications for their future actions. As an example, energy conservation behaviours could be performed primarily to reduce carbon emissions or to save money; the issue with engaging in environmentally protective behaviours for non-environmental reasons is that it could undermine the development of an environmentalist identity (van der Werff, Steg, & Keizer, 2013) and reduce the likelihood of behavioural spillover (Thøgersen & Crompton, 2009). A range of social psychological theories outline the mechanisms that motivate people to take action, and these have had great reach both inside and outside of social psychology. These theories include (but are not limited to) theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and perspectives that foreground the role of norms (e.g. norm focus theory; Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990) and the social identity perspective (see Hornsey, 2008 for a recent review). The theory of planned behaviour has been used to examine determinants of a range of private-sphere environmental behaviours including employees' energy-saving behaviours (Greaves, Zibarras, & Stride, 2013; Zhang, Wang, & Zhou, 2014), private landholders' carbon sequestration and trading (Thompson & Hansen, 2013), renewable energy use (Alam et al., 2014) and opposition to wind farms (Read, Brown, Thorsteinsson, Morgan, & Price, 2013). Similarly, research drawing on self-determination theory has identified that experiencing more autonomous, self-determined motivation or perceiving that the government is more autonomy supportive is related to public-sphere and private-sphere environmental behaviours (De Groot & Steg, 2010; Lavergne, Sharp, Pelletier, & Holtby, 2010). Perhaps one of the most important contributions of social psychology to understanding human behaviour has been its theorisation of the influence of social norms (e.g. Cialdini et al., 1990). From a social identity perspective, the social groups to which we belong provide guidelines for appropriate behaviour through the internalisation of group norms (Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Hornsey, 2008). We only need to consider the powerful relationship between political party identification and climate change responses to see evidence of this process (Dunlap & McCright, 2008; Fielding, Head, Laffan, Western, & Hoegh-Guldberg, 2012). According to the social identity perspective, group norms are more likely to guide environmental behaviour when the social identity is more central and salient (Fielding, Terry, Masser, & Hogg, 2008; Terry, Hogg, & White, 1999). Furthermore, in salient intergroup contexts, in-group members tend to polarise away from out-group members, and their environmental intentions and behaviour will become more in-group normative (Ferguson, & 2011; & 2012). and (this issue) our understanding of how social identity and associated in-group norms influences climate-change-related behaviour. on social identity to distinguish between dimensions of group identification and whether different dimensions are more likely to guide behaviour. that extent to which group identity is important to the and rather than among group the relationship between group norms and when those behaviours are high Although much of the research to has focused on understanding and private-sphere environmental and (van & have extended their model of with collective to understand responses to climate change (Van & 2008). on a perspective & Swim, 2011), they propose and provide evidence for for people to with the climate and In the case of climate change, is a likely to be by and to the extent that they they be more likely to take action to reduce their can also be through that to their beliefs about whether group action will be in with climate change. and (this issue) this research by determinants of intentions to in collective climate emotional specifically on and as central and social norms into the Their findings that the perceived norm intentions to take part in a climate perceptions of and group In the section, we a brief overview of theories that could help to understand climate-change-related and these approaches suggest variables to to effect change. For example, research has shown the of to influence environmentally related behaviour et al., 2013; et al., 2010; Cialdini, & 2008; Cialdini, & 2008; & 2013; et al., 2012). In this section, we focus on research that addresses key that might be when to influence climate-change-related attitudes, beliefs and actions. important direction in research has been the of how to climate change to positive in climate change attitudes and beliefs. From a social psychological perspective, one of the of is the role of attitudes in & Dickel, 2011). A of the literature to a effect of attitudes on for versus et al., 2009), and there is evidence that this is more likely when people hold strong attitudes & 2007). This that people's attitudes will influence how they to to change climate-change-related attitudes and beliefs, and research is broadly with this. greater to on climate change with their own & and are more likely to climate when it to their beliefs & 2011; & 2013). In response to this, some have climate to be more when they with the For example, with greater had greater intentions when with that behaviour as the American way of & 2010), and climate greater intentions when with that the positive effects of climate change on the development of new Hornsey, & 2012). the of more we know from the work of and that people are risk and that risk in ways that highlight the of can be more than that focus on In the of climate change where is a of the and (2011) have shown that climate change that the the but the possibility of stronger intentions to and (this issue) on the model of & 2013) to provide a for climate change In they with one of policies that in renewable energy or limit The with the policies was when the with the policy. there was more with a policy of in renewable energy an when it was in terms of whereas greater was for a policy of emissions a when it was as also that the focus of their responses to the Another key issue that be is the possibility of to climate change and the risks to human and from climate change, of and are central to the of climate change. the effects of in relation to health behaviour & & 2000) provide evidence that elicit greater attitude and behaviour change but only when the is by of responses propose that people that response are and they have the to out the they will in behaviours to the there is this in to the such as or The for to climate change is in a study by and greater of climate change among with stronger beliefs who had been with about climate change, whereas this not on more Research has also shown that of to from climate change, particularly can be made more take the perspective of the by climate change (Swim & in to climate change also when social are & 1999). For example, when were to evidence of energy use by their own they were more likely to climate change to causes than when the was about 2013). Furthermore, this greater to causes was negatively associated with climate change concern and support for climate change that help reduce identity can greater engagement with climate change. on the and (2010) that a to reduce the of of climate change and personal with climate change and environmental behaviour. Although can help reduce to climate change, and (this issue) that the for to environmental problems can undermine individuals' willingness to take environmental as progress that can to future environmental and human health problems can reduce the likelihood of engaging in environmentally behaviour. The is perceptions of that a of in an as the idea of scientific progress our the need to through individual actions. The from this research is that it is important not to scientific of the major barriers that has been identified in relation to action to address climate change is the distal nature of the et al., major consequences will in the future and are perceived as more likely to affect other those who are already most This of climate change that that reduce the between and the future or between the and other humans help to overcome this In support of this, that focus on environmental consequences of climate change help climate change engagement & 2013), and to take the perspective of a future human experiencing environmental problems environmental engagement & 2013). The research of and (this issue) to whether our human identity can influence willingness to take environmental Consistent with research, they that are related to greater willingness to in environmental is though, is that priming people who have to think about to have high related to potentially it an intergroup context. This provides evidence of the of about climate change and the need to understand the Social psychology can also point to some and to greater willingness to in to address climate change. and (this issue) that that whether have an versus an can make a to how many behaviours they consider engaging In that had out behaviours they would not consider resulted in being to in more behaviours than an where people consider what they would consider from a In this introduction to the special we highlight areas where social psychological research has important insights to understanding climate change attitudes, beliefs and what influences these and how they can be We used recent social psychological research and the papers from this current issue to illustrate key The strength of a social psychological of climate change is that it can help us to understand the of responses to climate change, for example, how attitudes can be influenced by both affect and cognition, how attitudes and beliefs can responses to climate change and people to climate change with and It can also provide and to the of climate change It is to see the and of social psychological research that addresses important questions related to climate change, although this has been a recent (Swim et al., 2012). we are to to make important contributions to this area of research, though, we propose that social psychologists should consider the following in their future We noted that there are a range of that can take to address climate change, from private-sphere behaviours to non-activist public-sphere behaviours to environmental activism (Stern, 2000). Although all of these approaches can some have greater than & 2009). have greater to influence and and to effect Despite this, social psychological research often investigates private-sphere actions. As a we can our contribution to climate change research by our focus to individual behaviours and public-sphere responses to climate change & 2008). As a we are to what is about climate change. The groups we belong to and the social we can be powerful influences on our attitudes, beliefs and the effect of political identification on climate change attitudes is a of this. area where these have relevance is in the of national and climate change As an example, and (2012) on social identity to the in that when the of individual and other become a identity can that will lead to greater likelihood of The consideration of intergroup and how these or positive responses to climate change (e.g. climate change and introduction of climate change is an area that could provide important A critical distinction made in relation to climate change is between and According to the on Climate Change the to human to reduce the impacts of climate change, whereas the latter to that can be made to human or systems that can help to the or the that would from or climate change and are even the measures will not some of climate change, and is needed to with this (IPCC, Yet the issue of psychological has been in climate change & Swim, 2011). This is for at (i) as noted some of climate change is research on is and (ii) a lack of understanding of could in that to or reduce to climate change that impacts or of other or social & social psychological research is to be a serious to the climate change research greater needs to be focused on of The need to to the distinction between and to the need for social psychologists to work with other disciplines. et we social psychologists to become with the and research of other relevant that address climate change to the relevance and reach of social psychological research in this that solutions to climate change cannot be developed by one the issue systems including and A is and social psychology can make a significant contribution by methods and theories that help social and cognitive In we in this introduction to the special issue to foreground social psychological theories and findings relevant to key climate change questions. Although social psychology can a of and the social psychology of climate change is and more needs to be done we have a of and theories that are to climate change. we this, the of social psychology is likely to be at the of climate We that the special issue can help the progress that has been made and catalyse the development of an indigenous social psychology of climate change. We social psychologists to this that we can be part of the to one of the and environmental of our

This study investigated the role of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) in climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in Mbereshi village. The study examined smallholder farmers’ perception of climate change, their traditional knowledge and practices, and the effectiveness of LEK in enhancing agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. The study used a mixed-methods research design, combining both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0 was used to examine quantitative datasets. Thus a multiple regression analysis was used to determine the predictive influence of multiple independent variables on LEK use while a Chi-square test was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in farmers’ perception of climate variability and change across the main climate variables considered for the study. The qualitative datasets were analysed using a thematic and descriptive approach. Study findings show that age and farming experience were significant predictors of LEK use in the multiple regression model while farmers’ perception of changes in the major climate variables were statistically significant based on the Chi-square test. The study shows that 91 percent of farmers were aware of changing climatic trends, especially on the commencement and frequency of rainfall variations while 86 percent of them indicated using LEK to guide their adaptation, early cultivation, crop rotation, and seed selection processes, among others. The results also indicate that farmers who implemented LEK observed an increase in crop yield. Farmers were also able to practice conservation tillage, organic fertilization, and agroforestry, indicating a great sense of commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study concludes that LEK is a useful traditional strategy for climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience. Study findings also strongly support the incorporation of LEK use in national climate change adaptation plans, and hence the study’s proposal for use of hybrid knowledge systems that blend indigenous wisdom with scientific innovation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate High School (HS) students’ perceptions of Climate Change (CC) and Global warming (GW). This work was conducted within Portuguese High School students and the results in this context should have meaningful implications for national CC policies in the future as well as HS curricula adaptation to the students’ perceptions. Research was conducted at a high school in Central Portugal. The survey was applied to all the high school students from the 10th to the 12th grade, enrolled in the areas of Sciences and Technology, Languages and Humanities, Socio-economical Sciences and Professionalization. The data were collected through a self-completion questionnaire consisting of 29 closed-ended questions and two open questions aiming at characterizing students from the socio-demographic, and from their perceptions, beliefs, motivations, attitudes, knowledge relating to the topic of CC. Google Drive was used to host the questionnaire and allow for the online survey. Statistical exploratory univariate and bivariate analyses were performed on the data collected (frequencies, total and column percentages, adjusted residuals). All statistical tests were two-tailed, with significance levels of 5%. Only statistically significant results were commented on the results section. Majority of students believed that CC was happening and also perceived that human activities were an important cause of CC. Still, the surveyed students hold some misconceptions about basic causes and consequences of climate change. Students’ gender influenced their perceptions of time scale of CC impact on both human and biotic communities. Most students state that their training had focused enough on the topic of CC and felt they had a moderate technical knowledge about the topic of CC (students’ knowledge of how their behaviour influenced CC followed a similar pattern). There was a large conviction that the main actions in mitigating CC effects should be taken by governments and regarding the perception of the importance of CC for their future professional carrier, 48% considered that this topic was “moderately important” and 29% considered it as “very important”. However as individuals, and globally, 74% had not taken actions to mitigate CC (only 26% of the respondents had taken some actions to mitigate the causes of CC). Further research is necessary so that curricula programs can be adequate to promote better knowledge and attitudes about climate change and an active engagement of future participative citizens, as part of the solution for climate change problems.

The Amazon region has been undergoing profound transformations since the late ‘70s through forest degradation, land use changes and effects of global climate change. The perception of such changes by local communities is important for risk analysis and for subsequent societal decision making. In this study, we compare and contrast observations and perceptions of climate change by selected Amazonian communities particularly vulnerable to alterations in precipitation regimes. Two main points were analysed: (i) the notion of changes in the annual climate cycle and (ii) the notion of changes in rainfall patterns. About 72% of the sampled population reports perceptions of climate changes, and there is a robust signal of increased perception with age. Other possible predictive parameters such as gender, fishing frequency and changes in/planning of economic activities do not appear overall as contributing to perceptions. The communities’ perceptions of the changes in 2013–2014 were then compared to earlier results (2007–2008), providing an unprecedented cohort study of the same sites. Results show that climate change perceptions and measured rainfall variations differ across the basin. It was only in the southern part of the Amazon that both measured and perceived changes in rainfall patterns were consistent with decreased precipitation. However, the perception of a changing climate became more widespread and frequently mentioned, signalling an increase in awareness of climate risk.

Nurses play a key role in combating climate change-related health risks by promoting adaptation and mitigation strategies. Their efforts are essential in educating patients and communities about the health impacts of climate change and sustainable healthcare practices. Nursing curricula are evolving to include climate change and sustainability. The goal is to prepare future nurses to effectively address climate change factors affecting health and to support the transition towards more sustainable healthcare systems. To study the perceptions of nursing students in Finland and the United States (U.S.) regarding climate change, focusing on their awareness and attitudes. A quantitative, cross-sectional study. In this study climate change awareness, concern, motivation, and behavior patterns of Finnish and U.S nursing students were surveyed and analyzed. Data were collected from an online survey using the Climate Health and Nursing Tool (CHANT). The data were collected from Finnish students (n=351) from February to June 2023 and for comparison we examined data collected from U.S. (n=352) in 2022. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS program. U.S. nursing students were found to have higher factor loadings, indicating a stronger connection between the measured factors and their related concepts compared to Finnish nursing students. Finnish students also received good factor loadings, but differences appeared in the correlations between awareness, concern, and motivation, and in the consistency of behavior at home and at work. Findings from study indicate that U.S. students have higher overall awareness but weaker links between awareness and workplace behavior, whereas Finnish nursing students show more consistent behavior both personally and professionally. Nursing faculty could use this knowledge to engage nursing students in learning about the impact of climate change on human health and prepare future nurses to meet challenges of climate change on patient populations.

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 高寒生态脆弱区农户对气候变化的感知——以甘南高原为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201507271565 作者: 作者单位: 西北师范大学,西北师范大学,西北师范大学,西北师范大学 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（41361106，41471116）；教育部新世纪优秀人才支持计划（NECT-11-0910）；甘肃省高校基本科研业务费项目 Farmers' perception of climate change in high-frigid ecological vulnerable region: a case of Gannan Plateau Author: Affiliation: Northwest Normal University,Northwest Normal University,Northwest Normal University,Northwest Normal University Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:气候变化作为人类当前面临的最严峻挑战，已对生态脆弱区农户生计产生严重的负面影响，明确农户对气候变化的感知对于制定有效的气候变化适应政策非常关键。以甘南高原为研究区，基于入户调查数据，构建了农户对气候变化的感知度指数，分析了甘南高原农户的气候变化感知特征，并采用经济计量模型分析了影响农户气候变化感知的关键因素。结果表明：（1）甘南高原农户对气温变化的感知能力强于对降水变化的感知，并对近期发生的、规模较大、影响较严重的极端天气记忆较深；（2）农户对气候变化的严重性及可能性感知较强烈，感知到的适应成本与适应功效也较高，但感知到的自我效能较弱，其气候变化严重性、可能性、适应功效、自我效能及适应成本感知度指数分别为3.76、3.34、3.43、2.85、3.53，且农区农户对气候变化的风险感知与适应感知均最强，半农半牧区次之，纯牧区最弱；（3）气候变化信息、农户的客观适应能力、农户对社会话语的信任度、适应激励均会影响农户的气候变化感知，其中，适应激励为最关键的影响因素，其与农户的气候变化适应功效感知、自我效能感知均呈正相关，而与风险感知、适应成本感知呈负相关。最后，针对如何提高农户气候变化感知的准确度，增强农户应对气候变化的能力，提出相关的政策建议。 Abstract:Global climate change has increased the vulnerability of natural ecosystems and brought a huge challenge to human being, how to adapt to climate change has become a hot spot in the world. The farmers who rely on natural resources for livelihoods is one of the vulnerable groups to adapt to climate change. Climate change has a serious negative impact on the farmers' livelihood, especially in the high-frigid ecologically vulnerable region. Perception of climate change is the basis of climate change adaptation, clearing the features of climate change perception of farmers is conducive to a better understanding of their response action. Selecting Gannan Plateau as the study area, based on 539 household survey data and the MPPACC (Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change), built a index of the farmers' perception of climate change, this paper analyzes the features of farmers' perception to climate change and the key factors that affect the farmers' perception of climate change by using the econometric model. The results show that:(1) Farmers' perception of temperature change is more accurate than the perception of precipitation change,79.96% of farmers have sensed accurately the trend of rising temperatures over the past 30 years, which is consistent with the meteorological data, and only 36.92% of farmers have sensed the trend of rising precipitation, which is inconsistent with the actual meteorological data; At the same time, farmers have a deep memory of the influential and larger scale extreme weather that happened in recent years;(2) Farmers' severity perception, probability perception, adaptation efficacy perception and adaptation costs perception of climate change are strong, but the self-efficiency perception of climate change is weak, the index of their severity perception, probability perception, adaptation efficacy perception, self-efficacy perception and adaptation cost perception are 3.76, 3.34, 3.43, 2.85, 3.53 respectively. And these perception is the strongest in farming area, next in the planting-pasturing area, the pure pasturing area is the weakest.(3) Climate change information, farmer's objectively adaptive capacity, farmers' trust on the social discourse, and adaptation incentives are all affect the farmer's perception of climate change, among them, adaptation incentive is the key factors influence farmers' climate change perception, and the more adaptation incentives, the weaker farmers' severity perception, probability perception and adaptation costs perception, but the stronger farmers' adaptation efficacy perception and self-efficiency perception. Finally, we put forward some relevant policy recommendations, the purpose is improve the accuracy of farmers' perception to climate change and enhance their adaptive capacity. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献