Climate Change People Research Articles

Predictors of Willingness to Reduce Carbon Footprint and Effects of Survey Question Phrasing

To minimize and prevent the many negative effects associated with climate change people must reduce their carbon footprints. Our objectives were to determine whether a person’s likelihood to take political action against climate change, perceptions about fracking, and education level affect their willingness to reduce carbon footprint, and whether phrasing of a survey question affects how people respond. To this end, participants’ responses were used from the publicly available nationally representative 2015 Cornell National Social Survey (CNSS) of 1,000 United States adults. Statistical analysis involved estimation and comparison of odds ratios (ORs) and the associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Findings indicated that willingness to reduce carbon footprint was positively associated with being likely to take political action against climate change (OR=6.53, 95% CI: 4.63-9.20) and with having gone to college (OR=1.43, 95% CI: 1.06-1.94). Conversely, support for fracking had a negative association with willingness to reduce carbon footprint (OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.31-0.56). In CNSS, the question about carbon footprint was phrased in five different ways that either mentioned the danger from climate change or the benefit from reducing climate change, and linked the benefit or danger to humans or birds. It was discovered that how the question is asked matters. Participants appeared more affected by mention of humans than animals, though reactions to benefit and danger were not consistent. These findings will aid education efforts about climate change and carbon footprint and also help in the design of future surveys on the topic.

Impact of Climate Change and Adaptation Measures on Transhumance Herding System in Gatlang, Rasuwa

Climate change impact is global and Nepal is no exception, posing vulnerability for different communities and regions. Transhumance herding is the culture and identity of indigenous settlement in Himalayan region where herders follow vertical transhumance herding as a part of subsistence mixed agriculture system for their livelihood. It differs from nomadism in terms of its periodicity, regularity, and mobility. This study confers the impacts of climate change and adaptation on transhumance herders in Gatlang of Rasuwa District. Focus Group Discussion, Key Informant Interview, and Questionnaire survey were carried out covering herder’s perception toward climatic variability, changes in the biophysical indicator, its impact and adaptation strategies. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, weighted mean, and Index of Usefulness of Practice for Adaptation (IUPA) tools. This study showed increase in mean average temperature (0.0202°C), increase in monsoon precipitation (2.1 mm) and decrease in winter precipitation (0.5 mm). Seasonal movement of livestock was mainly guided for adjusting temperature. The observed changes in biophysical indicator were diverse with shrinking grazing lands as most agreed statements followed by low crop productivity and faster melting of snow in rangeland. Herders perceived different adaptation strategies where reserving some grazing areas scored highest IUPA ranking followed by seasonal movement, storage of grass/hay, and so on. Though transhumance itself is one of the adaptation strategy against climate change people were not aware about changing monsoon precipitation and following same seasonal calendar as before which have affected livestock. These observations suggested that herders were unaware of the underlying cause and its impacts on the system which needed to be monitored scientifically.