Dirty Air, Better Climate? Effects of Air Quality on Climate Change Perception

• In Event: Poster Session: Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence; Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations & Science, Technology and Environmental Politics
  In Poster Session: Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Posters

Abstract

Increasingly, climate change poses a threat to human health, and manifests in several different ways including rising temperatures, sea level rise, and other indirect experiences. Additionally, climate change impacts air quality, a tangible day-to-day experience. Research has shown that extreme weather experiences can lead to increased engagement with climate change (e.g. Konisky et al., 2016; Haden et al., 2012; Spence et al., 2011), while other studies have shown direct experiences may have high influence on risk perception (e.g. Li et al., 2011, Egan and Mullin, 2012). Combining these two concepts, I suggest that air quality experiences may impact perceptions of climate change. This paper draws on data from the Yale Program on Climate Communication (see Leiserowitz, et al., 2017) and the Air Quality Index developed at the EPA to create a dataset that looks at county-level measurements of air quality and perceptions of climate change – whether it is occurring, and to what extent it is impacting humans. If individuals exposed to salient measures of an intangible concept such as climate change are more likely to perceive the risk, policy suggestions can be made to initiate action and engagement in communities that are likely to act. One question that has been recently discussed is of how to get the public educated in, and engaged with, climate change mitigation and adaptation (Tompkins et al., 2010). This question necessitates discussion of whether the public knows of a problem, and if they feel threatened enough to act on it. This paper is a first step in answering that question, as it analyzes whether individuals exposed to unhealthy air link that in some way to climate change and perceive global warming as existing and harmful. The paper thus contributes to the literature by adding an assessment of direct experiences and their impact on climate change perception.

Author

• Carley Weted, American University