Climate Change Knowledge Research Articles

Climate change adaptation in agriculture: Learning from an international labour mobility programme in Australia and the Pacific Islands region

Climate change is expected to seriously affect agricultural livelihoods and food security in all Pacific Island countries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation contends that, to adapt, both ‘modern’ and Indigenous agricultural practices and knowledge are needed. A challenge lies in combining agricultural knowledge systems and enabling adaptive knowledge to be shared amongst Pacific Islanders. Opportunities to integrate different types of agricultural knowledge (including ‘modern’ and Indigenous) are needed. This paper argues that international labour mobility programmes provide an avenue for knowledge exchange that can support climate change adaptation in agriculture. It presents empirical evidence from research with 33 Pacific Islanders who grow crops in their home countries and were employed in Australia’s Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP). We demonstrate how SWP participation opened new possibilities for climate change adaptation in agriculture in the Pacific Islands. Adaptive knowledge stems from SWP workers’ exposure to different agricultural skills and ideas in Australia, combined with their knowledge and experience of crop production in their countries of origin. SWP participation created opportunities for workers to draw on different agricultural skills and knowledge on return to the Pacific Islands. The ability for SWP workers to then exchange adaptive knowledge with other Pacific Islanders is enabled by their social relationships, the likes of which an official agricultural extension officer might not have to the same degree. So far, such adaptive agricultural knowledge and skills exchanges are serendipitous. There is scope to explicitly build climate change knowledge exchange into agriculture-focused international labour mobility schemes.

Social tipping points everywhere?—Patterns and risks of overuse

AbstractThe last few years have witnessed an explosion of interest in the concept of social tipping points (STPs), understood as nonlinear processes of transformative change in social systems. A growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship has been focusing in particular on social tipping related to climate change. In contrast with tipping point studies in the natural sciences–for example climate tipping points and ecological regime shifts–STPs are often conceptualized as desirable, offering potential solutions to pressing problems. Drawing on a well‐established definition for tipping points, and a qualitative review of articles that explicitly treat social tipping points as potential solutions to climate change, this article identifies four deleterious patterns in the application of the STP concept in this recent wave of research on nonlinear social change: (i) premature labeling, (ii) not defining system boundaries and scales of analysis, (iii) not providing evidence for all characteristics of tipping processes, and (iv) not making use of existing social theories of change. Jointly, these patterns create a trend of overusing the concept. Recognizing and avoiding these patterns of “seeing the world through tipping point glasses” is important for the quality of scientific knowledge generated in this young field of inquiry and for future science‐policy interactions related to climate change. Future research should seek to identify empirical evidence for STPs while remaining open to the possibility that many social change processes are not instances of tipping, or that certain systems might not be prone to nonlinear change.This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and Knowledge Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Behavior Change and Responses The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge

Perceived Government Control and its Influence on Climate Change Knowledge and Perceptions: Applications for Effective Communication

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the global agricultural food system at the current moment. While scientists agree that anthropogenic climate change is a critical issue, many United States residents remain skeptical, presenting a significant communication challenge. Understanding the factors influencing public perceptions of climate change are essential to informing agricultural and environmental communication efforts if they are to be effective at mitigating its effects. Previous studies have identified political affiliation and ideology as key predictors for climate change perceptions; however, understanding more detailed components of political ideology and affiliation could strengthen the predictive capacity of these variables. The current study explored the predictive capacity of perceptions of government control on environmental behavior related to political affiliation and ideology to inform effective communication based on climate change knowledge. Using an online survey of U.S. residents, political ideology and affiliation were found to be important predictors of climate change knowledge but including perceptions of government control on environmental behavior expanded their predictive capacity. Agricultural and environmental communicators are encouraged to integrate more nuanced components of political affiliation and ideology, such as perceptions of government control, into their messaging strategies to increase potential message uptake in the midst of a politically polarized media environment. Future research should identify and explore other aspects of political affiliation and ideology, such as economic and social factors, that may influence the public’s perception of climate change and its related policy implications.

Computational methods for the analysis of climate change communication: Towards an integrative and reflexive approach

AbstractComputational methods, in particular text‐as‐data or Natural Language Processing (NLP) approaches, have become popular to study climate change communication as a global and large‐scale phenomenon. Scholars have discussed opportunities and challenges of these methods for climate change communication, with some proponents and critics taking strong positions, either embracing the potential of computational methods or critically questioning their value. Mirroring developments in the broader social scientific debate, we aim to bring both sides together by proposing a reflexive, integrative approach for computational research on climate change communication: We reflect on strengths (e.g., making data big and small, nowcasting observations) and weaknesses (e.g., introducing empiricist epistemologies, ignoring biases) of computational approaches. Moreover, we also provide concrete and constructive guidance on when and how to integrate (or not integrate) these methods based on theoretical considerations. We thereby understand computational methods as part of an ever‐increasing, diverse toolbox for analyzing climate change communication.This article is categorized under: The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge

Leaking the IPCC: A question of responsibility?

AbstractIn August 2021, while the world was grappling with the release of the IPCC WGI report, a group of activist scientists called Scientist Rebellion leaked parts of the Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) prior to intergovernmental approval. Although Scientist Rebellion are not the first to leak an IPCC report, they are the most vocal leaker with a particular political agenda: to generate disruptive climate action by curtailing the carefully orchestrated intergovernmental process of the IPCC. I take this case of science in activism involving the IPCC interface as an example to examine the increasingly intricate relationship between science, activism and responsibility. The salient sense of urgency around climate action, the growing prevalence of the climate crisis narrative in both public and scientific spheres, and the increased policy‐relevance of science‐policy interfaces put strong pressures on (climate) scientists that need to be disentangled to be understood without premature judgment. I show that the leak is symptomatic of the novel responsibility to act(ivism) scientists are increasingly confronted with and I highlight some of the tensions that come with this responsibility. Emphasizing the centrality of the question of responsibility in, and of, science, I discuss the (ir)responsibility of leaking IPCC draft materials. I end on a call for more interdisciplinary attentiveness to the nexus of science, activism and responsibility and the cases in which they become entangled.This article is categorized under: The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Social Movements The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Decision Making

Viability of a circular economy for space debris

The orbital debris population is rapidly growing, increasing the chance of a Kessler-style collision event. We report a novel method for the production of estimates for the total monetary value of all debris objects and total mass of all objects currently in orbit. The method was devised using debris object data from the European Space Agency’s DISCOS dataset, classified via a decision tree. ‘Reuse’ and ‘scrap material’ scenarios were developed. A high-end estimate for reuse shows a net value of $1.2 trillion. Median and low-end net value estimates of $600 billion and $570 billion, respectively, are probably judicious. A scrap material scenario produced a high mass estimate of 19,124 tonnes, a median of 6,978 tonnes and a low estimate of 5,312 tonnes. Development of in-orbit services will be crucial to solve the orbital debris problem. A future circular economy for space may be financially viable, with potentially beneficial consequences for risk reduction; resource efficiency; additional high-value employment; and climate-change knowledge, science, monitoring and early warning data.

Does local cognition of climate change really matters in adaptation: farmer perspectives

ABSTRACT An understanding of how local knowledge of climate change converges with science-based assessment is important to effectively support adaptation decision making. This study explores farmers’ cognition of climate change and their adaptation in Ethiopia. Household and community level data on socio-economic, institutional, climatic and adaptation variables were collected. In addition, we obtained long-term historical meteorological data from local weather stations for consecutive 31 years. Mean and percentage computation, chi-square test, standard precipitation index and qualitative content methods were applied for data analysis. The analytical results of obtained past weather data revealed that the climate parameters have significantly changed over time, and highly varied across locations and these variations were substantiated by farmers’ experiences. There is a high level of agreement between climatological data and farmers’ observation that the onset of the rainy season is now shifting markedly, accompanied by an increasing dry spell with greater implication for rainfed systems. In contrast, there is a significant divergence concerning the length of the growing season which is explained by the strong influence of the onset rather than end of the rainy season. As a result, a range of strategies were implemented by farmers to fight against climate change dynamics, short to long term. The study concluded how diversification of climate communication outlets by combining local cognition can play a unique role in promoting risk communication. As a result, risk cognition as a function of socio-psychological factor should be combined into comprehensive science-based consensus that impact decision making.

Role of community-based conservation and natural resource management in building climate resilience among vulnerable mountain societies

ABSTRACT The role of community-based conservation (CBC) and natural resource management (CBNRM) in protecting ecosystems and improving socioeconomic well-being has received considerable attention, but its contribution to climate adaptation is less understood. Using a mixed-method case study approach, the current study compares two sites (Khyber and Khudaabad) in northern Pakistan with comparable socioeconomic features but varying levels of effectiveness of CBC/CBNRM programmes. The CBC in Khyber has been proactive than that of Khudaabad. The data was collected through household surveys (n = 220, 110 at each site), key informant interviews (n = 8 office-bearers of community-based organizations, 4 at each site), and extensive document review. In comparison to Khudaabad, the findings revealed that the local communities in Khyber demonstrated improved resilience to climate change because of a proactive community-based governance system, improved practices, access to social services, disaster preparedness, and improved knowledge of climate change. The study concludes that CBC/CBNRM contributes to building climate resilience among vulnerable mountain communities by strengthening social and ecological systems. The study suggests that for building the climate resilience of vulnerable communities, instead of investing in stand-alone adaptation measures, the governments must focus on ecosystem-based adaptions or integrate the specific adaptation or mitigation actions into the existing CBC/CBNRM programmes.

Unseen urgency: Delay as the new denial

AbstractThe scientific grounds for the urgency of action to limit climate change are relatively well‐understood. Much less well appreciated, however, are the contingent, but nevertheless profound, political reasons for the urgency of immediate robust action. Most important is the fact, insufficiently appreciated by many normative and economic theorists, that some of the most powerful and wealthy political institutions and economic organizations on the planet are firmly committed to delaying effective action on climate change as long as possible so that they can retain and enhance their current wealth and power resting on fossil fuel assets. Ruthless and entrenched opponents resist actions to slow climate change, and delay is the new denial. The deception practiced by those whose vast wealth and power depends on slowing the transition away from the combustion of fossil fuels necessitates the building of social movements and political campaigns to expose their falsehoods and diversions and to explain and justify transformative alternatives to potentially active citizens. The opponents of climate action have been active for decades and have built powerful political coalitions. The supporters of climate action need to confront them urgently with yet more powerful political coalitions because the remaining time for winning the struggle is shrinking fast. Action is urgent because deceptive delay is relentless.This article is categorized under: Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Global Justice The Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and Knowledge

Listening to older adults’ perspectives on climate change: Focus group study

This study explores climate change knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of community-dwelling older adults in Edmonton, Alberta. A qualitative descriptive methodology was used where thirty-nine older adults participated in one of six focus groups. A thematic data analysis helped identify three key themes synthesized from participants’ narratives: (a) Making sense of climate change, (b) lack of leadership in managing climate change; and (c) actions to address climate change that include an emphasis on individual responsibility and valuing the contributions of older adults. Older adults vary in their climate change literacy and levels of concern about climate change but share a commitment to environmental stewardship and community wellbeing. Expanding opportunities for older Canadians to learn about climate change and engage in climate initiatives will bring multiple benefits to this population and to the climate change movement.

Clumsy solutions and climate change: A retrospective

AbstractIn 1989, Steve Rayner chided fellow anthropologists for “fiddling while the world warms.” This was the starting point of a decades‐long application to human‐made climate change of the cultural theory that he had developed with Mary Douglas and Michael Thompson. It culminated in a call to develop “clumsy” solutions for addressing the issue. Since then, the concept of clumsy solutions has been applied, praised, and criticised. To clarify its strengths and weaknesses, I first set out cultural theory and explain how the notion of clumsy solutions was derived from it. I then assess the extent to which this notion has increased our understanding of climate change governance. I do so by breaking up the application of this concept into seven predictions, concerning: (1) the major perspectives among stakeholders on how to resolve climate change; (2) the fate of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol; (3) the feasibility of international emissions trading; (4) the possibility of making renewable energy competitive; (5) the need for domestic governmental action to realize this possibility; (6) the effectiveness of a nonbinding global treaty to combat climate change; and (7) the need to explore adaptation, carbon capture, and geoengineering. I show that these predictions have stood the test of time. Finally, I discuss the roles that the concept of clumsy solutions can play in future climate change governance. This article is written in memory of Steve Rayner, one of the first social scientists to focus on climate change.This article is categorized under: Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge Climate, History, Society, Culture > Thought Leaders

Who is the climate‐induced trapped figure?

AbstractMany will remember the 1990s alarmist narratives of how a human tide of up to a billion climate refugees would flood “our” borders by 2050. By 2011, a new character joined the discourse: the trapped figure. No longer would climatically vulnerable people be forced to move, they could also end up immobile. This review examines the narratives that surround the trapped figure. The article highlights the trapped figure's (i) characterisation, (ii) geography, and (iii) storytellers. The material includes the 2011 Foresight Report, 64 English peer‐reviewed journal articles, and seven UNFCCC policy reports. The textual analysis furthers our understanding of the values that shape the meaning of the trapped figure within the wider discursive economy. Out of the 64 articles, 48 located the trapped figure in Asia, while 34 placed the figure in Africa. Meanwhile, the majority of articles—62 in total—were written by scholars based at European research institutes. The study shows that the trapped figure, much as the mythical climate refugee and migrant, is constructed as both a victim in need of rescuing and as an ambiguous security threat. It is ethically problematic that planned relocation was often put forward as an effective tool to “move” the figure out of harm's way. The review also found a range of binary opposites in the discourse on trapped populations, including those of order–disorder, freedom–unfreedom, and victim–savior. This suggests that however well‐intentioned the liberal discourse on trapped populations appear, it remains embedded in power relations which demands for critical scrutiny.This article is categorized under: Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge Climate and Development > Sustainability and Human Well‐Being Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Ethics and Climate Change

A values-based approach to knowledge in the public's representations of climate change on social media

This paper supports recent calls for research programs that explore the public's online representations of their knowledge of science-related topics, and argues that a useful line of inquiry in such a program would be to investigate how values are communicated in the public's construction of their knowledge of climate change on social media. A values-based approach to public knowledge broadens the concept of knowledge from being a cognitive and quantifiable attribute that the public may be expected to have less of than experts. In so doing, it captures more holistic aspects of public epistemologies, and acknowledges that climate change is an emotive and normative issue. This paper connects such a future line of inquiry with the concept of the public's climate “imaginaries” and proposes a number of qualitative methods for analyzing the public's communication of knowledge/values on social media.

Climate tipping points and expert judgment

AbstractExpert judgment can be seen throughout climate science and even more prominently when discussing climate tipping points. To provide an accurate characterization of expert judgment we begin by evaluating the existing literature on expertise as it relates to climate science as a whole, before then focusing the literature review on the role of expert judgment in the unique context of climate tipping points. From this we turn our attention to the structured expert elicitation protocols specifically developed for producing expert judgments about tipping points. We highlight that expert elicitation is not only used for the quantification of uncertainty in this context, but also for the very identification and characterization of tipping points and their interactions, making expert judgment in itself a genuine scientific output. The central role of expert judgment in this domain raises several epistemic issues that require careful attention. Among other topics, we discuss the relationship between expert judgment and modeling, as well as the nonepistemic values that are involved in the production of expert judgments, highlighting how the elicitation protocols can be used to manage these values. In the perspective of climate change, clarifying the epistemic foundations of expert judgment in this context can help to navigate the epistemic situation between self‐defeating alarmism and blind dismissal, thus contributing to a better understanding of the challenges related to climate (and Earth system) tipping points.This article is categorized under:Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and KnowledgeThe Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Decision Making

Knowledge and Perception of Climate Change in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State

Knowledge and Perception of Climate Change in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State

A gendered perspective on climate change adaptation strategies: a case study from Yunnan, China

ABSTRACT Climate change impacts are distributed unequally, despite affecting the entire world and its inhabitants. Economically, socially and culturally deprived groups are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Women comprise the majority among these vulnerable groups, and it is, therefore, crucial to stress gendered perspectives in climate change adaptation strategies that promote gender equality and sustainable development. To that end, this paper documents the adaptation strategies employed by farmers and examines gender differences in climate change adaptation practices in Yunnan Province, China. A random sampling technique was used to select 1520 household heads for the survey. We used descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit model to document four categories of adaptation measures against a set of household features, social network, financial assets and perception variables. We discovered that female and male respondents do not significantly differ in their knowledge and perceptions of climate change, but female- and male-headed household respondents did differ in adopting climate change adaptation measures. The adaptation measures of female- and male-headed households were influenced by different sets of factors. The most significant determinant for both female- and male-headed households was perception of drought events in the last 20 years, followed by access to loans, while income from non-farm-based work had positive and significant impacts only for male-headed households. Findings from this study will help to elucidate the determinants of climate change adaptation decisions for female- and male-headed households in farming communities and the strategic interventions necessary for effective adaptation.

Addressing women’s climate change awareness in Sindh, Pakistan: an empirical study of rural and urban women

ABSTRACT Understanding climate change through knowledge and researching its level of awareness are critical for building resilience in vulnerable populations. Climate change comprehension is not a gender-neutral construct. The purpose of this paper is to investigate women’s perceptions of climate change in both rural and urban Sindh, Pakistan, as it is one of the ten most vulnerable countries to climate change. This study also looks into the sources of local women’s climate change awareness and knowledge. The study employed a mixed methodology approach, with 400 women from urban and rural areas polled for quantitative data and subject/field experts interviewed to validate the findings using informed opinion. According to the study’s findings, women in Sindh, Pakistan, are aware of climate change, but their sources of awareness are secondary, and their knowledge is based on personal experience. Therefore, the study recommends robust government initiatives to raise climate change awareness among women across the country.

Visitors’ Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception (KAP) of Climate Change in Mashar National Park, Hail-Saudi Arabia

This paper assesses the Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception (KAP) of Climate Change among the visitors of Mashar National Park, Hail, Saudi Arabia. Empirically, it has been established that climate change has an impact not only on the cultural and natural heritage but also on the visitor traffic patterns in national parks. The objectives guiding the study center on the identification of the level of knowledge and the investigation of the perception of park visitors regarding climate change. In the Hail Region, which is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's north central region, the average temperature ranges from 39°F to 103°F and is infrequently lower than 31°F or higher than 108°F. This KAP research adopted quantitative methods using a questionnaire survey for data collection. A total of 120 park visitors were purposively sampled for the study. It was concluded that the visitors in Al-Mashar Park are not fully prepared to mitigate the impact of climate change even though Hail is undoubtedly experiencing climate variability. According to the study's findings, recommendations were made to maintain the park and provide opportunities for managing the park in a way that would allow it to better adapt to the effects of climate change, maintain effective resource management, and improve tourist satisfaction.

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Impact of climate change on water availability in Bhagirathi River Basin, India

ABSTRACT The paper aims at simulating streamflow using Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrological Modelling System (HEC-HMS) under different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP’s) to access the impact of climate change on hydrological regime of Bhagirathi River at Tehri Dam. The input for the study is precipitation and temperature which are obtained from remote-sensing data. The temperature and precipitation data daily products are obtained from Tropical Rain Monitoring Mission (TRMM) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) missions and the respective future anomalies were obtained from World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal (CCKP). The streamflow simulation is done for RCP’s 4.5 and 8.5 under the models csiro_mk3_6_0, bcc_csm1_1, ccsm4 and mri_cgcm3. The study found that the combination of remote-sensing data and HEC-HMS model has been successful in simulating streamflow in the region. The region will experience an increase in streamflow discharge under changing climate over the next coming years. The simulation also indicates that there will be a change in temporal distribution pattern of the discharge. Amidst these uncertainties, the predictions also give an insight into the planning and management of constructed or to be constructed hydraulic structures in the basin.