People Don’t Need to ‘Believe’ in Climate Change to Act On It, Study Suggests

By Kristen Pope Skiing and glacier-viewing are two of the most popular tourist draws in Washington state’s North Cascades communities of Glacier and Concrete, but residents worry that uncertain snowfall and receding glaciers may put their tourism-based livelihoods in jeopardy. To encourage tourism, these Washington communities on the slopes of Mount Baker are adapting to climate change by holding new festivals and events and expanding existing festivals, such as Cascade Days and the North Cascades Vintage Fly-In. However, according to a recent study by Columbia University anthropologist and professor Ben Orlove and colleagues, local residents don’t necessarily view these adaptations through a climate change prism. Rather, they view them from a community frame. From that perspective, residents of those communities focus on how they can adapt and promote the area’s economic vitality, for example, rather than focusing on adaptation to climate change specifically. One take-home message from their research: Understanding which frames local residents use can help engage communities and empower them to adapt to a changing world. In addition to studying communities in the North Cascades, Orlove and colleagues studied communities in the Italian Alps and Peruvian Andes to see how people are adapting to, and talking about, […]

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