TY - JOUR
T1 - Local reports of climate change impacts in Sierra Nevada, Spain
T2 - sociodemographic and geographical patterns
AU - García-Del-Amo, David
AU - Mortyn, Peter Graham
AU - Reyes-García, Victoria
N1 - Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the María de Maeztu Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (MdM-2015–0552), the project grant CSO2014-59704-P, and from the European Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement no. 771056-LICCI-ERC-2017-COG. This work contributes to the “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000940-M).
PY - 2022/12/16
Y1 - 2022/12/16
N2 - While we know that climate change is having different impacts on various ecosystems and regions of the world, we know less how the perception of such impacts varies within a population. In this study, we examine patterns of individual variation in climate change impacts reports using data from a sample (n = 238) drawn from 33 mountainous municipalities of Sierra Nevada, Spain. Sierra Nevada inhabitants report multiple climate change impacts, being the most frequently reported changes in snowfall and snow cover, abundance of terrestrial fauna, freshwater availability, and extreme temperatures. Reports of climate change impacts vary according to informants’ sociodemographic characteristics and geographical location. People with life-long bonds with the environment and higher connection and dependence upon ecosystem services report more climate change impacts than other informants, as do people with lower level of schooling. We also found that reports of climate change impacts vary according to geographic areas, which reinforces the idea that climate change generates differentiated impacts even at small geographical scales. Understanding intracultural variation in reports of climate change impacts not only gives an enriched picture of the human dimensions of climate change but might also help design more targeted mitigation and adaptation responses.
AB - While we know that climate change is having different impacts on various ecosystems and regions of the world, we know less how the perception of such impacts varies within a population. In this study, we examine patterns of individual variation in climate change impacts reports using data from a sample (n = 238) drawn from 33 mountainous municipalities of Sierra Nevada, Spain. Sierra Nevada inhabitants report multiple climate change impacts, being the most frequently reported changes in snowfall and snow cover, abundance of terrestrial fauna, freshwater availability, and extreme temperatures. Reports of climate change impacts vary according to informants’ sociodemographic characteristics and geographical location. People with life-long bonds with the environment and higher connection and dependence upon ecosystem services report more climate change impacts than other informants, as do people with lower level of schooling. We also found that reports of climate change impacts vary according to geographic areas, which reinforces the idea that climate change generates differentiated impacts even at small geographical scales. Understanding intracultural variation in reports of climate change impacts not only gives an enriched picture of the human dimensions of climate change but might also help design more targeted mitigation and adaptation responses.
KW - Climate change impacts
KW - Local ecological knowledge
KW - Local perception
KW - Mountain region
U2 - 10.1007/s10113-022-01981-5
DO - 10.1007/s10113-022-01981-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 36540304
SN - 1436-3798
VL - 23
JO - Regional Environmental Change
JF - Regional Environmental Change
IS - 1
M1 - 14
ER -