Takahashi Bruno, Burnham Morey, Terracina-Hartman Carol, Sopchak Amanda R, Selfa Theresa
School of Journalism and Department of Communication, Michigan State University, 348 CAS Bldg. MSU Campus, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Environ Manage. 2016 Dec;58(6):946-957. doi: 10.1007/s00267-016-0742-y. Epub 2016 Sep 22.
Climate change is expected to severely impact agricultural practices in many important food-producing regions, including the Northeast United States. Changing climate conditions, such as increases in the amount of rainfall, will require farmers to adapt. Yet, little is known with regard to farmers' perceptions and understandings about climate change, especially in the industrialized country context. This paper aims at overcoming this research limitation, as well as determining the existing contextual, cognitive, and psychological barriers that can prevent adoption of sustainable practices of farmers in New York State. The study is framed within the adaptive capacity and risk perception literature, and is based on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with farmers in 21 farms in two counties in Central New York. The results reveal diverging views about the long-term consequences of climate change. Results also reveal that past experience remains as the most important source of information that influences beliefs and perceptions about climate change, confirming previous research.
气候变化预计将对包括美国东北部在内的许多重要粮食产区的农业生产造成严重影响。降雨增多等不断变化的气候条件将要求农民进行适应。然而，对于农民对气候变化的认知和理解，尤其是在工业化国家背景下，人们了解甚少。本文旨在克服这一研究局限，并确定可能阻碍纽约州农民采用可持续农业做法的现有环境、认知和心理障碍。该研究以适应能力和风险认知文献为框架，基于对纽约州中部两个县21个农场的农民进行的深度访谈的定性分析。结果揭示了对气候变化长期影响的不同看法。结果还表明，过去的经验仍然是影响对气候变化信念和认知的最重要信息来源，这证实了先前的研究。
