Initial public reactions to carbon capture and storage (CCS): differentiating general and local views

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered a potential climate change mitigation option, but public opposition may hamper its implementation. A quasi-experimental approach is used to examine whether ‘not in my back yard’ (NIMBY) sentiments can be anticipated at the initial stage when CO₂ storage locations have been selected and communicated to the public. Furthermore, the psychological structure of initial reactions to CO₂ storage plans is studied to ascertain the differences between people living in the direct vicinity of a proposed CO₂ storage location (i.e. onsite residents) and people who do not (i.e. offsite residents). The results indicate that initial reactions to local CCS plans are not necessarily dominated by NIMBY sentiments. For onsite residents as well as offsite residents, trust in government affects their judgements of the risks and benefits associated with CCS, which in turn affects their inclination to protest against CCS plans. Onsite residents’ inclination to protest is affected by their perceptions of local safety risks, but this is less of a concern for offsite residents. The inclination to protest against CCS is unrelated to concern about climate change.     

Uncertain climate: An investigation into public scepticism about anthropogenic climate change

This study presents a detailed investigation of public scepticism about climate change in Britain using the trend, attribution, and impact scepticism framework of Rahmstorf (2004). The study found that climate scepticism is currently not widespread in Britain. Although uncertainty and scepticism about the potential impacts of climate change were fairly common, both trend and attribution scepticism were far less prevalent. It further showed that the different types of scepticism are strongly interrelated. Although this may suggest that the general public does not clearly distinguish between the different aspects of the climate debate, there is a clear gradation in prevalence along the Rahmstorf typology. Climate scepticism appeared particularly common among older individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds who are politically conservative and hold traditional values; while it is less common among younger individuals from higher socio-economic backgrounds who hold self-transcendence and environmental values. The finding that climate scepticism is rooted in people's core values and worldviews may imply a coherent and encompassing sceptical outlook on climate change. However, attitudinal certainty appeared mainly concentrated in non-sceptical groups, suggesting that climate sceptical views are not held very firmly. Implications of the findings for climate change communication and engagement are discussed.     

泰宁世界地质公园社区居民对旅游开发的影响感知研究

为了了解泰宁世界地质公园社区居民对旅游开发的影响感知情况,促进泰宁旅游业的可持续发展,本研究选取泰宁世界地质公园的金湖、寨下大峡谷、上清溪3个主要景区作为案例区,深入调查这3个景区周边社区居民(家庭参与旅游占81.75%)对旅游开发的影响感知情况.结果表明,泰宁县旅游开发处于初期阶段,居民对旅游影响的正面感知强于负面感知.居民支持旅游业的发展,且旅游参与的积极性高,但旅游开发对于社区经济、社会文化环境以及旅游环境的影响感知程度表现不同,且随着不同的个体属性特征,其影响感知也出现明显的差异.建议通过建立泰宁县健全的旅游社区参与机制,来调控社区居民对旅游影响的感知.     

The Role of Future Orientation in Environmental Behavior: Analyzing the Relationship on the Individual and Cultural Levels

The concept of sustainability includes a personal and societal imperative to assume responsibility for the future outcomes of present actions, to look forward, or in other words, to have a future orientation. Future orientation is both a personality trait and a cultural characteristic that strongly influences behavioral decisions on the personal and societal levels, respectively. This research addresses the relationship between future orientation and pro-environmental behavior on both levels. In a representative sample of the population (n = 1216), we found that individuals with developed future orientation demonstrated more pro-environmental tendencies. On the cross-cultural level we also found that in countries that conduct future-oriented practices in general the environment benefits, because the citizens tend to behave more pro-environmentally. The parallel between factors that affect future orientation and environmental behavior and the implications for promoting pro-environmental practices in the social and personal levels are discussed.     

居民旅游影响感知和态度的空间分异——以黄山风景区为例

以黄山风景区为例,通过问卷调查,采用SPSS统计软件和ArcView GIS技术,揭示了旅游地居民对旅游影响感知和态度的空间分异特征。研究表明,周边地区居民对黄山风景区旅游影响的感知和态度呈现较为明显的空间分异。一定地域范围内,居民对旅游积极影响感知强度距离衰减,对旅游消极影响感知强度距离递增;在更广泛的地域范围内,受区域旅游空间结构和"飞地旅游"特征的影响,居民对旅游积极和消极影响的感知强度分别呈现"W"型和"M"型的空间分异特征。进一步分析了居民对风景区的了解程度、旅游流作用机制、交通线路、居民的响应程度等因素对居民旅游影响感知和态度空间分异的影响。     

A critical evaluation for the determination of amino acids in the marine environment by derivatization using 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-Cl) and reversed phase HPLC separation

This article extends work on the FMOC-Cl method of amino-acid analysis to determine its feasibility and shortcomings for marine research. Precolumn derivatization and separation by high performance liquid chromatography does not require error-inducing desalting steps or other time-consuming clean-up normally associated with ion-exchange type systems. The FMOC-Cl method was developed as an alternative to existing precolumn techniques because it is characterized by a very stable derivative formation, complete amino-acid reaction, low detection limit and good reproducibility. Problems encountered by this method, such as pH dependence of reaction, and reaction with water, are discussed and suitable solutions are proposed. The method can be applied to a wide range of marine samples.     

Socioeconomic geography of climate change views in Europe

Climate change views have their socioeconomic foundations but also specific geographies. In merging these perspectives, this analysis uses ESS Round 8 data from 23 European countries to examine whether climate change scepticism and concern, pro-environmental personal norm and a willingness to engage in energy-saving behaviour exhibit, first, urban–rural and/or regional differences, and second, if these attitudes can be explained at individual level by socioeconomic position and wellbeing resources. We find that climate change scepticism and concern do exhibit urban–rural differences, where living in a country village is associated with greater climate scepticism and lower concern compared to living in a big city. Also, higher climate change concern and pro-environmental norms are associated with living in a region with constant population growth. These geographical differences are independent of individual-level socioeconomic attributes as well as one’s political orientation. Additionally, the results show that both climate change attitudes and reporting energy-saving behaviour are strongly stratified by level of education and reveal that those in lower income deciles feel less pro-environmental norm but nonetheless report greater engagement with energy-saving behaviour. In sum, the results highlight that climate change mitigation is not a uniform project either spatially or within certain socioeconomic strata. Hence, our results suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage (belonging to the lowest education and income levels) and spatial marginalisation (living in more rural surroundings and declining regions) should be better acknowledged when reworking climate change and environmental policies in the EU.     

What is climate change scepticism? Examination of the concept using a mixed methods study of the UK public

The holding of doubts about climate change is often referred to as ‘scepticism’. However, there has been a lack of clarity in previous work as to what exactly this scepticism comprises. We integrate data obtained from discussion groups and a nationally representative survey, to interrogate and refine the concept of climate change scepticism with respect to the views of members of the public. We argue that two main types should be distinguished: epistemic scepticism, relating to doubts about the status of climate change as a scientific and physical phenomenon; and response scepticism, relating to doubts about the efficacy of action taken to address climate change. Whilst each type is independently associated by people themselves with climate change scepticism, we find that the latter is more strongly associated with a lack of concern about climate change. As such, additional effort should be directed towards addressing and engaging with people's doubts concerning attempts to address climate change.     

Social dominance as an ideological barrier to environmental engagement: Qualitative and quantitative insights

Climate change denial is motivated in part by ideology, with research showing that a greater tolerance of social inequality is consistently linked to lower pro-environmentalism. We report findings from two mixed-methods studies. In Study One, we provide insight into how individuals with varying levels of social dominance orientation discuss environmental issues by analyzing 59 interviews. These analyses revealed that many individuals were concerned about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to climate change; however, many were also armed with justifications excusing their and others’ inaction on the problem. To establish further how the ideas shared in the interviews related to social dominance, we reworked the ideas into statements for survey-based research in Study Two. Social dominance orientation and its composite dimensions related to most interview-based statements, with those scoring higher on dominance attitudes more opposed to top-down action on climate change, and those more tolerant of inequality more opposed to individual action. We discuss implications for climate change communication.