Climate Change Vulnerability In South East Queensland

Author : Christopher David Button
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 684 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (943 download)

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Download or read book Coastal Vulnerability and Climate Change in Australia written by Christopher David Button and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 684 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The degree to which society is potentially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change can be expressed through an assessment of either the biophysical (external) or social (internal) elements at risk. In Australia, the focus to date has been on the biophysical elements, or the level of physical exposure and sensitivity to potential climate change impacts. A greater understanding of the social elements of vulnerability is needed, including society's adaptive capacity. In short, whilst individuals and communities may not be able to control how the climate changes around them, they can influence how they adapt in the face of those changes. One social element, fundamental to adaptive capacity, relates to how individuals perceive the risks of climate change, which can either compel people to, or constrain them from, addressing risk. Public risk perception is playing an increasingly important role in shaping environmental policy and management response systems and, as highlighted by several Australian and international research priorities, this is particularly relevant at the local level where individual adaptation is context specific. This study has examined public risk perceptions of property owners from two Australian non-metropolitan coastal Local Government areas which contributes to current theoretical understandings of risk, and demonstrates the use of particular methodological approaches in exploring such perceptions, in order to provide clarity to policy-makers on the factors motivating individuals to address and ignore risk. This study has explored the role that public perceptions of climate change risk have in influencing an individual's willingness to support policy initiatives and consequently adapt to climate change. Utilising representative samples in Rockingham, Western Australia, and Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, data obtained from a mixed-method mail-out survey indicates that the majority of property owners are concerned about climate change, and almost one half believe it is occurring now. An optimism bias was identified, however, whereby many perceived their personal risk as less than that of others in the same community, and they believed strongly in their own capability to adapt. This is despite the fact that many respondents consider climate change impacts as occurring now or likely to occur in the next 25 years, and the fact that they expect such impacts to cause disruption to their lives. Notably, these results were particularly significant for males, those with low education levels, and those over 60 years of age. This thesis has implications for behavioural change, and hence, proactive adaptation and vulnerability reduction strategies. Indeed, underestimations of personal risk and high levels of self-efficacy may in fact lead to large proportions of the population believing themselves to be exempt from future climate change risks, which is highly undesirable in a changing climate. This study concludes that a deeper understanding of public risk perceptions might help decision-makers to better inform the public of risk and policy-makers of the way the public perceive risk. Here, adaptation response strategies are able to be framed more appropriately in local contexts, and in a way that is deemed acceptable to the public.