Public perception of climate change and its impact on natural disasters
The aim of the research is the examination of the factors influencing the public perception of climate change and its impact on natural disasters. This paper presents the results of quantitative research regarding testing the central hypothesis where education is the predicting variable of public perception of climate change and its impact on natural disasters. A multivariate regression analysis was used, identifying the extent of the total scores of the main dependent variables (perception of vulnerability to climate change, perception of the climate change impact on natural disasters, knowledge and fear scores) were associated with five demographic and socio-economic variables: gender, age, marital status, education level, and employment status. A series of 208 face-to-face interviews were conducted during the beginning of 2020 on the central squares in the selected cities in Serbia, Belgrade (76.92%) and Sremska Mitrovica (23.08%).
Understanding people's perceptions of climate change is not mere research but a necessary and obligatory precondition in creating and devising adaptation strategies to climate change. In this study, it was found that respondents are aware of climate change, but the dimension of objective knowledge of the processes, causes, and consequences of climate change is insufficiently examined. Most respondents are well acquainted with the connection between climate change and natural disasters, but it remains to examine several dimensions that can provide a clearer understanding of such impacts. All the strategies to mitigate the causes and consequences of climate change are rooted primarily in a comprehensive understanding of behavioral dispositions. Policies and strategies to improve people's awareness of climate change, and campaigns to reduce the causes that lead to the negative consequences of these phenomena must very precisely consider the different demographic and socio‐economic characteristics of people in the areas where they are implemented, or their success will be insufficiently guaranteed.
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