Communication about Sea-Level Rise:
Messages (and Process)
CLIMATE ADAPTATION
FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES
JUNE 25, 2015
CHESAPEAKE BAY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
600 DISCOVERY LN, GRASONVILLE, MD 21638
KAREN AKERLOF, PHD
RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
CENTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATION,
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
•
Yearly survey of
Marylanders
•
2,035 respondents in
2014
•
35% response rate
•
Reports and PPTs with
figures available online
•
New reports to be
released in fall 2015
Climatemaryland.org
Anne Arundel County, 2012
When people in your community
think about climate change,
what is the risk that most worries
them?
What causes them outrage?
2 Ways to Think
about Communication
1. Messages
2. Process
What People Perceive as RISK
1. Message
?
Extremely certain not happening
Don’t know
Extremely certain it’s happening
sea level rise
Extremely certain not happening
Don’t know
Extremely certain it’s happening
climate change
What % of Marylanders
think sea level-rise is happening?
Climate change?
Half of Marylanders don’t know if
sea level rise is happening here
Eastern Shore
Don’t know, 33%
Not happening, 12%
Happening, 56%
Vast majority says climate change is happening
Eastern Shore
Don’t know, 20%
Not happening, 14%
Happening, 66%
More than half say protecting coastal areas
should be a high or very high priority
Hard protection – walls and barriers—is the
least supported policy option
Erosion is the biggest concern
Marylanders support government action
Eastern Shore
Support, 67%
Climatemaryland.org
Main Message 1:
Rising Waters: It’s a Shore Thing!
•
•
•
Tell your community members to
prepare for stronger and more
frequent storms
Plant trees and native plants that
naturally reduce flood impacts
Join a wetland restoration project to
help naturally protect communities
from rising seas and strong storms
Climatemaryland.org
Main Message 2:
Raise your voice! Sea levels are rising.
•
•
Tell your elected officials to adopt the
state’s “CoastSmart” construction
guidelines
Learn more about Maryland’s
CoastSmart construction program
construction program
Climatemaryland.org
2. Process
??
Have you engaged in
public and/or stakeholder
dialogues
in your community?
• Development of sea-level rise
viewer with household-level risk
information (Dewberry)
• Countywide survey of residents
• Daylong community deliberative
event
Beliefs about social order
(hierarchy and individualism)
were the largest
factors in perceptions
of sea-level rise risks
and policy support
www.FutureCoast.info
Online coastal
flooding and sealevel rise viewer
5%
Question and
answer with
experts
24%
Small group
discussions
71%
What was your favorite part of the day’s events? (n=38)
Knowledge of sea-level rise
changed after community event
Hierarchical individualists
changed the most
Sea-level rise beliefs
Impact concern scale
Problem identification
Local government policy
adequacy
Preferences for response strategies
changed after community event
Creating opportunities to build
community identity and shared
decision-making in pursuit of
larger group goals may reduce
impacts of cultural polarization
3. What’s next for the Consortium
• 2015 survey release in October
• Community resilience project
• Campaign to renew Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Act: “Renew
Maryland”
?
[email protected]