Goal
This project examines how the physical experience of climate change impacts in Alaska at the local and regional level may significantly affect individual, group, and institutional risk perception and decision-making regarding climate change. The project studies affective and cognitive representations of climate change and tests the impact of experiential vs. analytic framing of climate change information on risk perceptions, decision making and adaptive behaviors at both the individual (survey) and group levels (focus groups) of decision making. The focus groups will provide stakeholders representing different sectors and interests (e.g., commercial, government, environmentalist, Native Alaskan) with a structured decision making process to clearly articulate stakeholder values, objectives, knowledge, framing and affective evaluations of climate change in the effort to develop locally-relevant adaptations, thus providing a natural laboratory to study group processes in climate decisions. This project will further develop and test the 'Common Sense Climate Index' as a tool to assist decision makers detect and respond to climate change.

Background
One region experiencing significant climate change is Alaska where precipitation has increased over 30% since 1968 and sea ice has retreated causing widespread effects on marine ecosystems, coastal climate, and human settlements. Permafrost melting has led to erosion, landslides and damaged infrastructure. The decisions and responses to these impacts by local and regional stakeholders will have important consequences, both for the geographic localities and regions that will confront the impacts of climate change, and for climate model projections.

Research Questions
Have decision-makers in regions currently experiencing significant climate change detected this change?

Do they attribute the changes to climate change?

How do analytical/consequentialist, affect/associative and experientially-based decision-making interact in the processes of both individual and group decision-making about climate change?

Last Updated: June 1, 2006