Abstract
Psychologists have examined the many psychological barriers to both climate change belief and concern. One barrier is the belief that climate change is too uncertain, and likely to happen in distant places and times, to people unlike oneself. Related to this perceived psychological distance of climate change, studies have shown that direct experience of the effects of climate change increases climate change concern. The present study examined the relationship between physical proximity to the coastline and climate change belief, as proximity may be related to experiencing or anticipating the effects of climate change such as sea-level rise. We show, in a national probability sample of 5,815 New Zealanders, that people living in closer proximity to the shoreline expressed greater belief that climate change is real and greater support for government regulation of carbon emissions. This proximity effect held when adjusting for height above sea level and regional poverty. The model also included individual differences in respondents' sex, age, education, political orientation, and wealth. The results indicate that physical place plays a role in the psychological acceptance of climate change, perhaps because the effects of climate change become more concrete and local.
Highlights
The vast majority of climate scientists (97–98%) agree with the reality and human causes of climate change [1]
New Zealanders, to Americans, want action taken on climate change, but it is clear that the public is significantly less certain about the threat than the scientists
The relative strength of the proximity effect (b = 2.038 and b = 2.036) was low in comparison with sex and political orientation, and it was slightly lower than the effect of regional deprivation, but our results indicate that distance to coast was significantly associated with climate change belief and support for emissions regulation
Summary
The vast majority of climate scientists (97–98%) agree with the reality and human causes of climate change [1]. Support for action to reduce global warming is moderate to high: 64% of New Zealanders say that citizens should be exerting more effort toward combating climate change [8], and, when they were shown 19 possible government policy options to reduce emissions, New Zealanders showed more support than opposition for all, with majority support for 17 of the policy options [9]. 68% of the U.S public supports medium to large-scale efforts to tackle climate change [10]. New Zealanders, to Americans, want action taken on climate change, but it is clear that the public is significantly less certain about the threat than the scientists
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