The social perception of natural hazards risk: Portugal and Tuvalu

Abstract

The effects of climate change and sea-level change should cause serious problems for the inhabitants of some small islands such as Tuvalu in the future. As a result of a combination of natural processes and anthropogenic action, the sea-level change creates different impacts. This research investigates the perception of natural risk and climate change in Portugal and Tuvalu. The perception of the some natural risk, like sea-level rise, can be different of each place. The perception of climate changes in Tuvalu is little known for academic community from University of Aveiro, and they believe that the impacts of sea level rise for Portugal and Tuvalu are not the same. The geographic distance makes an influence in perception of risks; residents far away from this phenomenon present a low level of attention of this phenomenon.