Tailored messages are instrumental to climate change communication. Information about the global threat can be ‘localised’ by demonstrating its linkage with local events. This research ascertains the relationship between climate change attitude and perception of local weather, based on a survey involving 800 Hong Kong citizens. Results indicate that concerns about climate change increase with expectations about the likelihood and impacts of local weather change. Climate change believers attend to all three types of adverse weather events, namely, temperature rises, tropical cyclones and prolonged rains. Climate scepticism, however, is not associated with expectation about prolonged rains. Differential spatial orientations are a possible reason. Global climate change is an unprecedented and distant threat, whereas local rain is a more familiar and localised weather event. Global climate change should be articulated in terms that respect local concerns. Localised framing may be particularly effective for engaging individuals holding positive views about climate change science.
BubeckPBotzenWJWAertsJCJH (2012) A review of risk perceptions and other factors that influence flood mitigation behavior. Risk Analysis32(9): 1481–1495.
2.
BuysLAirdRvan MegenKMillerESommerfeldJ (2014) Perceptions of climate change and trust in information providers in rural Australia. Public Understanding of Science23(2): 170–188.
3.
CornerAWhitmarshLXeniasD (2012) Uncertainty, scepticism and attitudes towards climate change: Biased assimilation and attitude polarisation. Climatic Change114(3–4): 463–478.
4.
DarierÉSchüleR (1999) ‘Think globally, act locally’? Climate change and public participation in Manchester and Frankfurt. Local Environment4(3): 317–329.
5.
DeryuginaT (2013) How do people update? The effects of local weather fluctuations on beliefs about global warming. Climatic Change118(2): 397–416.
6.
EganPJMullinM (2012) Turning personal experience into political attitudes: The effect of local weather on Americans’ perceptions about global warming. Journal of Politics74(3): 796–809.
7.
FokLCheungLTO (2012) Evaluating the impact reduction strategies for the tropical cyclone hazard in Hong Kong. Asian Geographer29(2): 121–129.
8.
FrankEEakinHLópez-CarrD (2011) Social identity, perception and motivation in adaptation to climate risk in the coffee sector of Chiapas, Mexico. Global Environmental Change21(1): 66–76.
9.
HobsonKNiemeyerS (2011) Public responses to climate change: The role of deliberation in building capacity for adaptive action. Global Environmental Change21(3): 957–971.
10.
HobsonKNiemeyerS (2013) ‘What sceptics believe’: The effects of information and deliberation on climate change scepticism. Public Understanding of Science22(4): 396–412.
11.
HulmeM (2008) Geographical work at the boundaries of climate change. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers33(1): 5–11.
12.
HulmeM (2009) Why We Disagree About Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13.
JoiremanJBarnes TrueloveHDuellB (2010) Effect of outdoor temperature, heat primes and anchoring on belief in global warming. Journal of Environmental Psychology30(4): 358–367.
14.
KaspersonRERennOSlovicPBrownHSEmelJGobleRKaspersonJXRatickS (1988) The social amplification of risk: A conceptual framework. Risk Analysis8(2): 177–187.
15.
LamKSHungWTFungWY (2004) Characterizing the Climate Change Impact in Hong Kong. Final report submitted to the HKSAR – Environmental Protection Department. Hong Kong: Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
16.
LeiserowitzAA (2005) American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous?Risk Analysis25(6): 1433–1442.
17.
LiYJohnsonEJZavalL (2011) Local warming: Daily temperature change influences belief in global warming. Psychological Science22(4): 454–459.
18.
LoAY (2013) The role of social norms in climate adaptation: Mediating risk perception and flood insurance purchase. Global Environmental Change23(5): 1249–1257.
19.
LorenzoniIHulmeM (2009) Believing is seeing: Laypeople’s views of future socio-economic and climate change in England and in Italy. Public Understanding of Science18(4): 383–400.
20.
LorenzoniINicholson-ColeSWhitmarshL (2007) Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Global Environmental Change17: 445–459.
21.
MaibachENisbetMCBaldwinPAkerlofKDiaoG (2010) Reframing climate change as a public health issue: An exploratory study of public reactions. BMC Public Health10: 299.
22.
MoserSCDillingL (2007) Toward the social tipping point: Creating a climate for change. In: MoserSCDillingL (eds) Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 491–516.
23.
MoserSCDillingL (2011) Communicating climate change: Closing the science-action gap. In: DryzekJSNorgaardRBSchlosbergD (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 161–174.
24.
MyersTNisbetMCMaibachEWLeiserowitzA (2012) A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change. Climatic Change Research Letters113(3–4): 1105–1121.
25.
NisbetMC (2011) Public opinion and political participation. In: DryzekJSNorgaardRBSchlosbergD (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 355–368.
26.
NorgaardKM (2011) Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions, and Everyday Life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
27.
Oxfam Hong Kong (2010) Hong Kong’s Vulnerability to Global Climate Change Impacts: An Oxfam Report on 2010 Public Survey and Policy Recommendations. Hong Kong: Oxfam.
28.
ParryMLCanzianiOFPalutikofJPLindenPJ van derHansonCE (eds) (2007) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
29.
PoortingaWSpenceAWhitmarshLCapstickSPidgeonNF (2011) Uncertain climate: An investigation into public scepticism about anthropogenic climate change. Global Environmental Change21(3): 1015–1024.
30.
RahmstorfS (2004) The Climate Sceptics. Potsdam: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
31.
RennO (2008) Risk Governance: Coping with Uncertainty in a Complex World. London: Earthscan.
32.
RennO (2011) The social amplification / attenuation of risk framework: Application to climate change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change2: 154–169.
33.
ThompsonMRaynerS (1998) Risk and governance. Part I: The discourses of climate change. Government and Opposition33(2): 139–166.
34.
UngarS (2007) Public scares: Changing the issue culture. In: MoserSCDillingL (eds) Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 81–88.
35.
VainioAPaloniemiR (2013) Does belief matter in climate change action?Public Understanding of Science22(4): 382–395.
36.
WashingtonHCookJ (2011) Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand. London: Earthscan.
37.
WhitmarshL (2008) Are flood victims more concerned about climate change than other people? The role of direct experience in risk perception and behavioural response. Journal of Risk Research11(3): 351–374.
38.
WhitmarshL (2009) What’s in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’. Public Understanding of Science18: 401–420.
39.
WhitmarshL (2011) Scepticism and uncertainty about climate change: Dimensions, determinants and change over time. Global Environmental Change21(2): 690–700.
40.
WhitmarshLO’NeillSLorenzoniI (2011) Conclusion: What have we learnt and where do we go from here? In: WhitmarshLO’NeillSLorenzoniI (eds) Engaging the Public with Climate Change: Behaviour Change and Communication. London: Earthscan, pp. 270–282.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
