Rapid Climate Change and Society: Assessing Responses and Thresholds

Simon Niemeyer*, Judith Petts, Kersty Hobson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Assessing the social risks associated with climate change requires an understanding of how humans will respond because it affects how well societies will adapt. In the case of rapid or dangerous climate change, of particular interest is the potential for these responses to cross thresholds beyond which they become maladaptive. To explore the possibility of such thresholds, a series of climate change scenarios were presented to U.K. participants whose subjective responses were recorded via interviews and surveyed using Q methodology. The results indicate an initially adaptive response to climate warming followed by a shift to maladaptation as the magnitude of change increases. Beyond this threshold, trust in collective action and institutions was diminished, negatively impacting adaptive capacity. Climate cooling invoked a qualitatively different response, although this may be a product of individuals being primed for warming because it has dominated public discourse. The climate change scenarios used in this research are severe by climatological standards. In reality, the observed responses might occur at a lower rate of change. Whatever the case, analysis of subjectivity has revealed potential for maladaptive human responses, constituting a dangerous or rapid climate threshold within the social sphere.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1443-1456
Number of pages14
JournalRisk Analysis
Volume25
Issue number6
Early online date15 Nov 2005
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2005
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Physiology (medical)

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Perceptions
  • Rapid
  • Social response
  • Subjectivity
  • Thresholds

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