Open Collections

Pustova, Margaryta

University of British Columbia

The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events are among the manifestations of anthropogenic climate change most notable to the public. Exposure to these events has been shown to heighten individuals’ concern about climate change, motivate personal-level climate actions, and enhance support for climate policies. However, the tendency towards single-action bias coupled with limited resources may lead individuals to prioritize either adaptation or mitigation actions in the wake of weather extremes. Until now, the effect of extreme weather events on climate action preferences remained largely underexplored. To address this research gap, this dissertation explored how news of extreme weather events affect individuals’ priorities concerning mitigation and adaptation actions. These priorities are explored both in terms of the intentions to undertake personal-level actions and support for governmental initiatives. To achieve this, a representative sample of the United States and Canadian population (N=1058) was recruited to participate in an experimental survey assessing the effect of exposure to news texts about record-breaking heatwaves, varied by geographical proximity and severity, on personal and collective-level climate action preferences. The results show that news about a weather extreme prompts individuals to prioritize personal- and governmental-level adaptation measures aimed at preparing for the effect of the type of event reported in the news article. This relationship is not affected by the geographical proximity or the presence of casualties associated with the portrayed heatwave. The findings suggest that extreme weather events present opportunities for policymakers to advance climate change adaptation initiatives and for climate change communicators to educate the public on effective adaptation actions that do not exacerbate emissions, while stressing the importance of emissions reduction actions.

Text

2023-12-15

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86963

Geography

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/