Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience
One of the reasons that people may not take action to mitigate climate change is that they lack first-hand experience of its potential consequences. From this perspective, individuals who have direct experience of phenomena that may be linked to climate change would be more likely to be concerned by...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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2011
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2249/ |
| _version_ | 1848790739123699712 |
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| author | Spence, Alexa Poortinga, Wouter Butler, Catherine Pidgeon, Nick |
| author_facet | Spence, Alexa Poortinga, Wouter Butler, Catherine Pidgeon, Nick |
| author_sort | Spence, Alexa |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | One of the reasons that people may not take action to mitigate climate change is that they lack first-hand experience of its potential consequences. From this perspective, individuals who have direct experience of phenomena that may be linked to climate change would be more likely to be concerned by the issue and thus more inclined to undertake sustainable be- haviours. So far, the evidence available to test this hypothesis is limited, and in part contradictory1–4. Here we use national survey data collected from 1,822 individuals across the UK in 2010, to examine the links between direct flooding experience, perceptions of climate change and preparedness to reduce energy use. We show that those who report experience of flooding express more concern over climate change, see it as less uncertain and feel more confident that their actions will have an effect on climate change. Importantly, these perceptual differences also translate into a greater willingness to save energy to mitigate climate change. Highlighting links between local weather events and climate change is therefore likely to be a useful strategy for increasing concern and action. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:17:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-2249 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:17:24Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-22492020-05-04T20:24:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2249/ Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience Spence, Alexa Poortinga, Wouter Butler, Catherine Pidgeon, Nick One of the reasons that people may not take action to mitigate climate change is that they lack first-hand experience of its potential consequences. From this perspective, individuals who have direct experience of phenomena that may be linked to climate change would be more likely to be concerned by the issue and thus more inclined to undertake sustainable be- haviours. So far, the evidence available to test this hypothesis is limited, and in part contradictory1–4. Here we use national survey data collected from 1,822 individuals across the UK in 2010, to examine the links between direct flooding experience, perceptions of climate change and preparedness to reduce energy use. We show that those who report experience of flooding express more concern over climate change, see it as less uncertain and feel more confident that their actions will have an effect on climate change. Importantly, these perceptual differences also translate into a greater willingness to save energy to mitigate climate change. Highlighting links between local weather events and climate change is therefore likely to be a useful strategy for increasing concern and action. 2011 Article PeerReviewed Spence, Alexa, Poortinga, Wouter, Butler, Catherine and Pidgeon, Nick (2011) Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience. Nature Climate Change, 1 (1). pp. 46-49. ISSN 1758-678X http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v1/n1/full/nclimate1059.html |
| spellingShingle | Spence, Alexa Poortinga, Wouter Butler, Catherine Pidgeon, Nick Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title | Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title_full | Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title_fullStr | Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title_short | Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| title_sort | perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2249/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2249/ |