Climate change in Northern Russia through the prism of public perception

This article fills a major hole in the Western literature on climate change perceptions by reporting detailed data from Russia. While Northern Russia demonstrates high rates of climate change, regional adaptation policies are yet to be established. Complicating the problem, how the Russian public pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio 2019-06, Vol.48 (6), p.661-671
Main Authors: Anisimov, Oleg, Orttung, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate and population
Climate Change
Climate models
Climate policy
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Environment
Environmental changes
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental Management
Environmental policy
Extreme weather
Perceptions
Physical Geography
Policies
Public opinion
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Russia
Weather
Weather patterns
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Summary:This article fills a major hole in the Western literature on climate change perceptions by reporting detailed data from Russia. While Northern Russia demonstrates high rates of climate change, regional adaptation policies are yet to be established. Complicating the problem, how the Russian public perceives climate change remains poorly known. This study synthesizes data from observations, modeling, and sociological surveys, and gives insight into the public perceptions of current and projected future changes in climate. Results indicate that, similar to what is found in the Western context, unusual weather patterns and single extreme events have a deeper impact than long-term climate change on public perceptions. The majority of the population considers climate and environmental changes locally, does not associate them with global drivers, and is not prepared to act on them. Accordingly, even the best designed climate policies cannot be implemented in Northern Russia, because there is no public demand for them. To address this situation, climate scientists should work to educate members of the public about basic scientific concepts so that they begin to demand better climate policies.
ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209
1654-7209
DOI:10.1007/s13280-018-1096-x