Climate Change Beliefs Research Articles

CLIMATE CHANGE ATTITUDES, RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE AND PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR OF STUDENTS FROM THREE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Climate change is not a future problem, it is a significant variation of weather conditions becoming warmer, wetter or drier. It is the longer-term trend that differentiates climate change from natural weather variability. The aim of this research was to determine primary school students’ knowledge and attitudes related to climate change among primary school students (n = 473) in the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Portugal using a questionnaire survey. The dimensions of climate change knowledge, environmental attitudes and values, pro-environmental behaviour, and climate change attitudes were measured and analysed. The results showed gender differences in favour of girls in all the dimensions studied, except for climate change knowledge, where the results of boys and girls were comparable. In an international comparison, UK children scored higher on climate change knowledge and climate change attitudes dimensions. A multiple regression analysis showed the dimensions of nature preservation and appreciation of nature as the strongest positive predictors of pro-environmental behaviour and the dimensions of climate change knowledge and nature preservation as the strongest predictors of climate change belief. The results suggest the importance and implications of the wider societal debate on climate-related personal dimensions. The interconnectedness of environmental and climate-related topics at the primary school level is also evident. Keywords: climate change attitudes, climate change education, climate change knowledge, environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour, primary school

Shaping farmers’ beliefs, risk perception and adaptation response through Construct Level Theory in the southwest Iran

Due to the severe effects of climate change on the agricultural sector, urgent action is required on the part of farmers and is, indeed, critical to reducing climate change impacts. However, reports globally revealed farmers’ engagement in climate change adaptation is still insufficient, ambivalent, and inconsistent and farmers do not consider adaptation to be urgent. Researchers have argued that this issue is rooted in psychological biases beside other factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate how psychological distance determines climate change beliefs, risk perception and adaptation strategies among Iranian farmers. A cross-sectional paper-based survey was conducted in the Dasht-e Azadegan county of Khuzestan province in southwest Iran. The study sample consisted of 250 farmers selected through a multi-stage random sampling process. An expert panel review and a pilot study were conducted to confirm convergent validity and reliability of the scales. The results confirm that all four dimensions of psychological distance influence water management adaptation strategies and non-farm activities. Moreover, all psychological dimensions, except the temporal dimension, affect adaptation in farming management. Thus, making climate change more proximal to decision makers could be a strategic way of encouraging individuals to take adaptive actions. This study emphasizes that concepts of psychological distance can be applied to help organizations (e.g., agriculture extension services) to understand farmers’ risk perceptions and responses to climate change impacts and improve risk communication to better engage farmers in climate action.

How Teacher’s Climate Change Belief Influences Classroom Management Practices for Students’ Climate Change Awareness In Nigerian Schools

How Teacher’s Climate Change Belief Influences Classroom Management Practices for Students’ Climate Change Awareness In Nigerian Schools

Reacting to the Rural Burden: Understanding Opposition to Utility‐Scale Solar Development in Upstate New York☆

AbstractRural landscapes are under increasing development pressure from utility‐scale solar (USS) energy facilities while public attitudes toward these facilities remain poorly documented and understood. This study explores whether opposition to USS in upstate New York is shaped at least in part by perceived rural burden—the idea that rural people and places are unfairly expected to provide new renewable energy in response to urban demand. We explore the idea of rural burden with measures of distributive injustice, procedural injustice, periphery identity, and place attachment. We use a survey (N = 421) of residents of western and northern New York, regions with substantial new and pending USS development. We find that 42 percent of residents oppose USS installations in or near their local communities, 14 percent neither support nor oppose, and 44 percent support. Perceived distributive and procedural injustice, along with place attachment have the strongest effect on opposition, while socio‐demographic attributes, political ideology, and climate change beliefs were insignificant. These findings suggest that opposition to large scale renewable energy development exemplifies a rural environmental justice concern justified for many by the perceived legacy of exploitation in natural resource development.

Climate change views examined through a behavioral medicine frame: are there potential target mechanisms for change beyond political ideology?

ABSTRACT The threat of climate change is associated with both profound health consequences and failures by many individuals to take preventive actions. Behavioral science research on health behavior engagement may serve as a lens through which to better understand attitudes associated with the threat of climate change. This study was designed to examine individual differences in attitudinal responses to climate change, understanding the degree to which these responses can be predicted by both political beliefs and more readily modified psychological factors commonly associated with health behavior engagement: locus of control, anxiety sensitivity, delay discounting, and intolerance of uncertainty. Participants (N = 234) were US adults (62% male; 57% Non-Hispanic White; 44% Democrat) who completed an online survey. Stepwise multiple linear regressions examined which variables provided non-redundant prediction in models of climate change beliefs and concerns. In addition to providing support for the role of political affiliation and related ideology in climate change views (9–23% variance), this study underscores the importance of a behavioral health frame in understanding climate change concerns and beliefs. Known risk factors for negative health behaviors – prominently, locus of control, anxiety sensitivity, and delay discounting – contributed strongly to the understanding of these views, accounting for 4–28% of variance. Our findings encourage greater attention to health behavior-related constructs for understanding attitudes relevant to climate change action.

Effect of Climate Change Belief and the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) on Eco-Tourism Attitudes of Tourists: Moderator Role of Green Self-Identity

This research has been conducted to determine the effect of tourists' beliefs of climate change on the NEP and ecotourism attitudes. In addition to this purpose, the moderator role of green self-identity in the effect of the NEP on ecological attitudes has also been examined. The research data were obtained from the tourists visiting the Alanya destination, which is one of the centers that attract the most tourists in Turkey. When the results of the research were examined, it could be determined that the belief in climate change is effective on all dimensions of the NEP, and similarly, all dimensions of the NEP have also affected the tourists' ecological attitude. Further, green self-identity has a moderator role in the effect of ecocentric and anthropocentric sub-dimensions on eco-tourism attitudes. As a consequence of the findings, a number of theoretical and practical implications have been developed for sector managers, destination management organizations, and academicians.

Growing importance of climate change beliefs for attitudes towards gas

Tense global politics, spikes in gas prices and increasingly urgent warnings about climate change raise questions over the future use of natural gas. UK longitudinal survey data reveal that beliefs about climate change increasingly reduced support for gas extraction between 2019 and 2022. Mounting public connections between climate and gas use suggest growing opportunities for climate communication to lower support for all fossil fuels, not just the more carbon-intensive oil and coal. Natural gas has been seen as a bridge in the move from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. This work presents UK longitudinal survey data showing climate change beliefs increasingly diminish public support for natural gas.

Promoting Behaviors to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change: Using the Extended Parallel Process Model at the Personal and Collective Level in China

ABSTRACT This study explored strategies to help mitigate the effects of climate change among members of the Chinese public by broadening the extended parallel process model (EPPM) to the personal and collective levels. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was designed to examine the effects of threat (personal vs. societal), efficacy (personal vs. collective), and climate change beliefs (high vs. low) on participants’ personal intention to help mitigate the effects of climate change. A total of 421 Chinese citizens participated in this experimental study. The results reveal significant main effects of threat, efficacy, and climate change beliefs on personal mitigation intentions. Moreover, individuals who perceived high personal threat and high collective efficacy toward climate change reported the highest intention to take personal actions to mitigate the effects of climate change, regardless of the participants’ levels of climate change beliefs.

“Matter of climate change” or “Matter of rapid urbanization”? Young people's concerns for the present and future urban water resources in Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, Vietnam

Through an integrated empirical study in the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan, we examined the effects of urban land use and climate change on water management, as well as young people's concerns about the issue. The results showed that between 1992 and 2019, the population increased from 3,272,000 to 8,993,082 residents, while urban settlements increased from 288 km2 to 958 km2, with a higher rate observed after the year 2000. Climatic analysis showed an average temperature increasing trend of about +0.27 °C/decade, with a significant increase up to +0.34 °C/decade observed after the year 2000, while precipitation did not show a significant trend.The study revealed young people perceived great changes in urban water bodies - polluted and encroached on by infrastructure over the last decades, and believed climate is changing, which poses risks to humans. The youth's perceptual experiences and beliefs are symmetric with the monitoring data. They are also concerned about future urban water resources. The Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling showed these concerns were shaped by the perceptual experience of rapid urbanization rather than climate change belief. The finding appeals to a holistic alternative for urban water management by improving the connections and integration with urban planning.

Contradictions about Sustainability: A Case Study of College Students from Saudi Arabia

The present study offers a window into college students’ views of environmental sustainability in a country that is one of the major oil producers in the world. College students are the main constituents of the country’s programmatic plan (i.e., the 2030 Vision) for restructuring its infrastructure and human capital away from oil and gas production and toward a knowledge and service economy. Thus, their views can influence the success of the plan. In the present study, 430 college students at a university located at the heart of the oil and gas region were surveyed via an online questionnaire. Participants were of Middle Eastern descent. It was found that their beliefs and reported actions were generally supportive of a green economy. However, their beliefs in climate change and specifically in renewable energy did not predict much of their sustainability-based behaviors (e.g., recycling). The latter findings were interpreted as reflecting the internal conflict between embracing change (i.e., a desirable but uncertain future), and resisting change (i.e., a choice that would preserve, at least for some time, the benefits of the fossil fuel economy).

Queering Climate Change: Exploring the Influence of LGBTQ+ Identity on Climate Change Belief and Risk Perceptions*

Although researchers have broadly addressed how race, party identification, political ideology, and binary gender categories influence climate change opinions, little attention has been paid to the relationship between sexuality and gender variance (LGBTQ+ identity broadly) and climate change perceptions. Using a quota‐based survey from 2022 that approximates the US population on key demographic characteristics and oversamples LGBTQ+ individuals, we assess the degree to which LGBTQ+ individuals' climate change beliefs and risk perceptions are comparable to cisgender, heterosexual (cishet) individuals, specifically examining climate change beliefs, the perceived threat climate change poses, and worry about climate change. We argue that LGBTQ+ individuals' views are likely to be distinct from their cisgender heterosexual (cishet) counterparts for three reasons: climate change is likely to exacerbate existing structural inequalities, create disaster responses that reinforce heteronormative and discriminatory patterns, and activate LGBTQ+ political culture. We find evidence that LGBTQ+ individuals express higher agreement with climate change beliefs, identify climate change as a greater threat, and worry more about climate change when compared to their cishet counterparts.

Farmers' beliefs and concerns about climate change, and their adaptation behavior to combat climate change in Saudi Arabia.

Climate change threatens the existence of humankind on the planet Earth. Owing to its arid climate and poor natural resources base, Saudi Arabia is particularly susceptible to the negative impact of ongoing climate change. Farmers' understanding of this global phenomenon is extremely important as it may help determine their adaptation behavior. This study was designed to analyze farmers' beliefs and concerns about climate change as well as their views about adaptation different obstacles. Data were collected from 80 randomly farmers of the Al-Ahsa region in Eastern Province using structured interviews. The findings revealed that farmers believed that climate change is mainly occurring due to anthropogenic activities. Drought, insects, crop diseases, and heat stress were their main concerns regarding adverse impacts of climate change. Lack of knowledge about adaptation practices, and poor government and financial support are perceived as the major obstacles to adaptation. The results of non-parametric analysis identified no significant differences in farmers' climate change beliefs and concerns, and their views about obstacles to adaptation in relation to their demographic characteristics. Based on the findings, we suggest that capacity building programs should be undertaken by the government for enhancing the adaptive capacity of the farmers as well the provision of financial incentives wherever deemed necessary for promoting the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and building a resilient national food system.

Climate risk perceptions and demand for flood insurance

AbstractThe demand for flood insurance is low when the frequency and severity of flood disasters are increasing due to climate change. We show that beliefs about climate change influence homeowners' choice and level of flood insurance coverage. The demand for voluntary flood insurance coverage for homes and contents is higher in areas with more people who are worried about global warming. Property‐level analysis shows that individuals are more likely to terminate flood insurance after unanticipated premium increases if they do not perceive climate change as a risk. We use the heterogeneous impact of widening partisan polarization on climate change beliefs to rule out alternative explanations.

Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand’s rural sector

Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand’s rural sector

Believing in or Denying Climate Change for Questionable Reasons: Generic Conspiracist Beliefs, Personality, and Climate Change Perceptions of Romanian University Students.

People's perceptions of climate change represent a growing concern, especially when these perceptions entail the denial of climate change. Past studies have highlighted the detrimental role of conspiracist beliefs concerning climate change regarding people's perceptions on this matter. However, the effects of generic conspiracy beliefs and the different types of beliefs determining skepticism about climate change, as well as that of an individual's personality, are still an open area of inquiry. Our cross-sectional study (N = 842) explored the relationships between the degree to which people hold different generic conspiracy beliefs, their personality characteristics (as defined within the Big Five taxonomy), and climate change beliefs (i.e., in its occurrence and anthropogenic causation). Results indicated common predictors of these dimensions of climate change beliefs, specifically three of the five types of generic conspiracy beliefs, extraversion, agreeability, and intellect/imagination as personality factors. While conspiracy beliefs related to personal well-being emerged as related to climate change skepticism, those in government malfeasance and information control were found to be associated with more acceptance of climate change and its anthropogenic causation. These findings reveal a mixed pattern of relationships between different conspiracist beliefs and climate change perceptions and suggest the complex psychological and ideological underpinnings of the attitudes towards climate change.

Climate change education in China: a pioneering case of its implementation in tertiary education and its effects on students’ beliefs and attitudes

PurposeIn view of a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of climate change education (CCE) in China, this study aims to evaluate if a CCE course newly designed based on research recommendations and implemented with established pedagogy was effective in changing the beliefs and attitudes of first-year science students.Design/methodology/approachThis study took a simple longitudinal approach with surveys administered at the beginning and the end of the course and the differences in the responses analyzed with nonparametric statistical analyses.FindingsThe results showed that the course produced significant changes in the beliefs concerning the anthropogenic causes of climate change and vulnerability to its impacts, which results in inequality of the impacts received. However, the course did not produce significant attitudinal changes among the students. Spearman’s correlation, which affirmed the belief–attitude association, revealed that the students already had desirable attitudes toward climate change and these attitudes had not been reinforced. The students’ perception of the importance of local government in climate action increased by the end of the course. Multimedia-aid learning, debates and discussions were useful in conveying the concepts of responsibility, ethics and vulnerability, but the addition of student-led community projects will increase personal significance of the course.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is instrumental for the development of a regional model of CCE in the mainstreaming of education for sustainable development in China, knowing that the regional approach is crucial to address the nuances in climate change knowledge, hence conceptions and beliefs across regions and, even, between different sectors of a region. This regional experience could also serve as a reference for other similar settings, particularly those of the developing countries.Originality/valueThis study presents one of the very few studies dedicated to gauging the effects of CCE in China, particularly of a newly developed climate change course, on the beliefs and attitudes of students. This permits pedagogical development and continuous improvement of CCE in China.

Environmental Self-Identity and Pro-Environmental Behavior in Climate Change Issue: Mediation Effect of Belief in Global Warming and Guilty Feeling

There are several arguments about the role of identity factors behind someone’s pro-environmental behavior (PEB) encountering climate change. The authors assumed other factors might explain the correlation between identity factors and PEB. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of belief in global warming and guilty feeling on the correlation between environmental self-identity and pro-environmental behavior related to climate change issues. We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving 202 university students selected using the purposive sampling method. Using multiple mediators of model 4 from PROCESS Macro Hayes, the result shows that environmental self-identity is the most decisive variable in predicting PEB. Belief in global warming is also a significant PEB predictor, while the guilty feeling is insignificant. The mediation model analysis showed that belief in global warming partly mediated the correlation between environmental self-identity and PEB, and the guilty feeling was not a significant mediator. This finding explains that self-identity as an environmentalist is directly related to PEB, or it could also be mediated through the belief in global warming. This study implies that encouraging students to be pro-environmentalist and developing the belief in current climate change is essential to increase students’ PEB.

Change in US state-level public opinion about climate change: 2008–2020

Public attitudes toward climate change influence climate and energy policies and guide individual mitigation and adaptation behaviors. Over the last decade, as scientific certainty about the causes and impacts of, and solutions to the climate crisis has increased, cities, states, and regions in the United States have pursued diverse policy strategies. Yet, our understanding of how Americans’ climate views are changing remains largely limited to national trends. Here we use a large US survey dataset () to estimate dynamic, state-level changes in 16 climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences over 13 years (2008–2020). We find increases in global warming issue importance and perceived harm in every state. Policy support, however, increased in more liberal states like California and New York, but remained stable elsewhere. Year-by-year estimates of state-level climate opinions can be used to support sub-national mitigation and adaptation efforts that depend on public support and engagement.

Impact of climate change awareness on undergraduates’ socio-emotional well-being in Nigeria

Students’ living conditions may suffer as a result of climate change. This research examined the impact of climate change awareness on undergraduates’ beliefs about socio-emotional well-being in Nigeria. The total number of undergraduate students in Kwara state made up the study’s population, with the sample size being 589. The Climate Change and Mental Wellbeing Questionnaire (CCMWQ) was used to collect data from randomly selected undergraduate participants for the study. The acquired data was evaluated using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and PPMC at a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that most undergraduates are aware of climate change but have little understanding of its origins, effects, and preventive strategies. The results further revealed that the undergraduates’ level of climate change awareness influences their beliefs about their socio-emotional wellbeing. At different ages, participants’ opinions on how climate change would affect their socio-emotional health varied dramatically. Similarly, a correlation exists between climate change awareness and beliefs about socio-emotional well-being and awareness and attitude towards protecting the environment.

Assessing German farmers’ trade-offs between disease resistance and yield in winter wheat varieties

Disease resistant crop varieties are important for both disease control and for reducing chemical pesticide use. However, there is often a trade-off between disease resistance and yield. While the European Union has banned the use of some pesticides in agriculture, large amounts are still applied to various crops, including wheat. Market-based instruments could motivate farmers to adopt more environmentally friendly production methods. In this study we aimed to explore farmers’ adoption of resistant varieties in different wheat price scenarios and their willingness to forgo yield when cultivating more resistant varieties. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 192 farmers using a choice experiment. Results showed that farmers preferred traits of yield stability (fungal disease resistance, lodging resistance and drought tolerance) over yield. Preferences for traits varied with the production system; livestock production was negatively associated with the importance of yield; cultivated land area was positively associated with protein content. The market price scenario did not change preferences. We calculate that farmers are willing to forgo more yield by cultivating highly disease resistant varieties than they are likely to recuperate from reducing costs of pesticides. Overall, we conclude that farmers’ choices are based more on a combination of the production system, drought experience, climate change belief and the potential impact of further regulations to reduce the use of chemical pesticides than on the expected wheat price.