Assessing the Impacts of Local Knowledge and Technology on Climate Change Vulnerability in Remote Communities (29 page pdf, Christopher Bone, Lilian Alessa, Mark Altaweel, Andrew Kliskey and Richard Lammers, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2011, Mar. 4, 2011)Also discussed here: Climate Change, Health, and Vulnerability in Canadian Northern Aboriginal Communities (7 page pdf, Christopher Furgal and Jacinthe Seguin, Environ Health Perspect., Jul. 11, 2006)
The article reviewed today looks at the vulnerability of a community to environmental change, as estimated by the gap between local perception of the existing issues and the promise of new technology. Although the communities examined were in the far north and the issue water supply, the approach and the general conclusions seem to apply to (many?) other communities and in the wider context of climate change - health impacts generally – and specifically to the promise of new transportation technology, such as electrically powered vehicles and biofuels, for example, to deliver reduced or zero toxic emissions.
Key Quotes:
“Perceptions play a crucial role in the ability of a community to adapt to climate change as misguided views can impede a group’s response or ability to cope with external stresses, leaving them vulnerable”
“community vulnerability is exacerbated when community perceptions about their environment are adversely affected by the introduction of new technologies that alter the way in which they access traditional resources.. technology-induced environmental distancing (TIED)”
“local knowledge[LK] ..an accumulated knowledge base in a community over time regarding local climatic and hydrological systems. Local knowledge has become an important source of information for detecting local impacts from climate change, in addition to providing information for environmental monitoring, sustainable agriculture practices, natural resource use and land conservation”
“applied to two remote communities in western Alaska who are currently experiencing adverse climate change impacts and whose environmental perceptions are influenced by TIED due to the increase reliance on municipal water systems rather than traditional forms of non-municipal water collection”
“demographic changes lead to increases in community vulnerability over time. In the scenario without knowledge transmission, older agents die and their knowledge about the past local climate is lost from community perceptions”
“environmental knowledge can be retained for much longer in a community if its youth are engaged with traditional resource use that provides opportunity to experience changes in the local climate over time”
“The results demonstrate how demographics, the communication of knowledge and the types of ‘knowledge-providers’ influence community perception about changes to their local climate”
Related articles
- Flood victims 'fear climate change' (confused.com)
- UN report: Cities ignore climate change at their peril (environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com)
- Health Impacts of Climate Change in China (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
- Flood victims' climate worries (lv.com)
- Cities 'feeling heat of climate' (bbc.co.uk)
- Mapping Human Vulnerability to Climate Change (via GIS and Science) (srnstrikha.wordpress.com)
- Mapping Human Vulnerability to Climate Change (via GIS and Science) (wilderside.wordpress.com)
- Mapping human vulnerability to climate change. (custommaps.wordpress.com)
- Climate Change Vulnerability Index 2011 (developmentwatchuk.wordpress.com)
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