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Climate Change Risk Perception and Communication: Addressing a Critical Moment?

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  • Nick Pidgeon

Abstract

Climate change is an increasingly salient issue for societies and policy‐makers worldwide. It now raises fundamental interdisciplinary issues of risk and uncertainty analysis and communication. The growing scientific consensus over the anthropogenic causes of climate change appears to sit at odds with the increasing use of risk discourses in policy: for example, to aid in climate adaptation decision making. All of this points to a need for a fundamental revision of our conceptualization of what it is to do climate risk communication. This Special Collection comprises seven papers stimulated by a workshop on “Climate Risk Perceptions and Communication” held at Cumberland Lodge Windsor in 2010. Topics addressed include climate uncertainties, images and the media, communication and public engagement, uncertainty transfer in climate communication, the role of emotions, localization of hazard impacts, and longitudinal analyses of climate perceptions. Climate change risk perceptions and communication work is critical for future climate policy and decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Pidgeon, 2012. "Climate Change Risk Perception and Communication: Addressing a Critical Moment?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(6), pages 951-956, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:32:y:2012:i:6:p:951-956
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01856.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jinyu Chen & Yixin Qiu & Qian Ding & Yuan Geng, 2025. "Climate transition risk and corporate environment, social and governance performance: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 2829-2848, July.
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    3. Barry Anderson & Emanuele Borgonovo & Marzio Galeotti & Roberto Roson, 2014. "Uncertainty in Climate Change Modeling: Can Global Sensitivity Analysis Be of Help?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 271-293, February.
    4. Mary Guillard & Ghozlane Fleury-Bahi & Oscar Navarro, 2021. "Encouraging Individuals to Adapt to Climate Change: Relations between Coping Strategies and Psychological Distance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Jeryl L. Mumpower & Xinsheng Liu & Arnold Vedlitz, 2016. "Predictors of the perceived risk of climate change and preferred resource levels for climate change management programs," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(6), pages 798-809, June.
    6. Loredana Antronico & Roberto Coscarelli & Francesco De Pascale & Dante Di Matteo, 2020. "Climate Change and Social Perception: A Case Study in Southern Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-24, August.
    7. Fang, Yi-Ping & Zio, Enrico, 2019. "An adaptive robust framework for the optimization of the resilience of interdependent infrastructures under natural hazards," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(3), pages 1119-1136.
    8. Yi‐Ping Fang & Giovanni Sansavini & Enrico Zio, 2019. "An Optimization‐Based Framework for the Identification of Vulnerabilities in Electric Power Grids Exposed to Natural Hazards," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(9), pages 1949-1969, September.
    9. Ralf Barkemeyer & Frank Figge & Andreas Hoepner & Diane Holt & Johannes Marcelus Kraak & Pei-Shan Yu, 2017. "Media coverage of climate change: An international comparison," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(6), pages 1029-1054, September.
    10. Michael R. Greenberg & Marc D. Weiner & Robert Noland & Jeanne Herb & Marjorie Kaplan & Anthony J. Broccoli, 2014. "Public Support for Policies to Reduce Risk After Hurricane Sandy," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(6), pages 997-1012, June.
    11. Yingying Sun & Ziqiang Han, 2018. "Climate Change Risk Perception in Taiwan: Correlation with Individual and Societal Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, January.
    12. Charlotte Jones & Donald W. Hine & Anthony D. G. Marks, 2017. "The Future is Now: Reducing Psychological Distance to Increase Public Engagement with Climate Change," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 331-341, February.
    13. Stephan Hügel & Anna R. Davies, 2020. "Public participation, engagement, and climate change adaptation: A review of the research literature," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), July.
    14. Alison C. Cullen & C. Leigh Anderson, 2017. "Perception of Climate Risk among Rural Farmers in Vietnam: Consistency within Households and with the Empirical Record," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 531-545, March.
    15. Sharif Mozumder & M. Kabir Hassan & M. Humayun Kabir, 2024. "An evaluation of the adequacy of Lévy and extreme value tail risk estimates," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, December.
    16. Fulvio Biddau & Sonia Brondi & Paolo Francesco Cottone, 2022. "Unpacking the Psychosocial Dimension of Decarbonization between Change and Stability: A Systematic Review in the Social Science Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, April.

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