Alcantara Lutgardo B, Creencia Lota A, Madarcos John Roderick V, Madarcos Karen G, Jontila Jean Beth S, Culhane Fiona
College of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Western Philippines University, Puerto Princesa City, Philippines.
School of Biological and Marine Science, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
UCL Open Environ. 2023 Jan 26;5:e054. doi: 10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000054. eCollection 2023.
Understanding coastal communities' awareness and risk perceptions of climate change impact is essential in developing effective risk communication tools and mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of these communities. In this study, we examined coastal communities' climate change awareness and risk perceptions of climate change impact on the coastal marine ecosystem, sea level rise impact on the mangrove ecosystem and as a factor affecting coral reefs and seagrass beds. The data were gathered by conducting face-to-face surveys with 291 respondents from the coastal areas of Taytay, Aborlan and Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Philippines. Results showed that most participants (82%) perceived that climate change is happening and a large majority (75%) perceived it as a risk to the coastal marine ecosystem. Local temperature rise and excessive rainfall were found to be significant predictors of climate change awareness. Sea level rise was perceived by most participants (60%) to cause coastal erosion and to affect the mangrove ecosystem. On coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems, anthropogenic drivers and climate change were perceived to have a high impact, while marine livelihoods had a low impact. In addition, we found that climate change risk perceptions were influenced by direct experiences of extreme weather events (i.e., temperature rise and excessive rainfall) and climate-related livelihood damages (i.e., declining income). Climate change risk perceptions were also found to vary with household income, education, age group and geographical location. The results suggest that addressing poverty and effectively communicating climate change risks can improve climate change awareness and risk perceptions.
了解沿海社区对气候变化影响的认识和风险认知，对于开发有效的风险沟通工具和缓解策略以降低这些社区的脆弱性至关重要。在本研究中，我们考察了沿海社区对气候变化的认识以及气候变化对沿海海洋生态系统、海平面上升对红树林生态系统的影响，以及作为影响珊瑚礁和海草床的一个因素的风险认知。数据是通过对菲律宾巴拉望省塔亚泰、阿博兰和公主港沿海地区的291名受访者进行面对面调查收集的。结果显示，大多数参与者（82%）认为气候变化正在发生，绝大多数（75%）认为这对沿海海洋生态系统构成风险。发现当地气温上升和降雨过多是气候变化意识的重要预测因素。大多数参与者（60%）认为海平面上升会导致海岸侵蚀并影响红树林生态系统。对于珊瑚礁和海草生态系统，人为驱动因素和气候变化被认为影响很大，而海洋生计的影响较小。此外，我们发现气候变化风险认知受到极端天气事件（即气温上升和降雨过多）的直接经历以及与气候相关的生计损害（即收入下降）的影响。还发现气候变化风险认知因家庭收入、教育程度、年龄组和地理位置而异。结果表明，解决贫困问题并有效传达气候变化风险可以提高气候变化意识和风险认知。
