Insights
Understanding community perceptions of sea level rise
Posted March 05, 2014
Twenty-five per cent of respondents believed that we are already feeling the effects of sea level rise in Australia. However the timescales anticipated by the rest of the respondents varied widely between "in the next ten years" and "beyond the next 100 years", and 17 per cent of respondents did not know when effects would be felt.
Finally, the survey asked who should be mainly responsible for taking action against climate change-induced sea level rise. Participants could choose as many options as they liked from a list that included the federal government, industry, the international community, state government, individuals/families, local governments and environmental groups. Seventy-three per cent chose the federal government as one of the bodies that should be responsible. Twenty-two per cent ticked all the options above.
When investigating relationships between different variables, the results present quite conflicting information. As shown in Figure 1, there seems to be little relationship between the two variables of concern over sea level rise and an individual's preparedness to change their activities.
Conclusions and directions for future research
The analysis suggests that the Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale community is relatively homogenous in both their demographic data and their overall perceptions of climate change-induced sea level rise. There seems to be a level of concern over sea level rise, but this does not coincide with a willingness to change future activities. It seems that there might be other factors at play in determining people's level of concern over sea level rise rather than proximity to risk and general awareness of the issue. Further research could delve into political and monetary motivations of individuals, to determine whether there are other factors influencing people's perceptions of risk, levels of concern and willingness to adapt their activities in the future.
It must be acknowledged that the survey was somewhat limited by the sample being over-represented by an older demographic (as shown by comparison to ABS statistics). More responses from the younger and more mobile Queenscliffe and Point Lonsdale community might have provided a different data set. As such, it is suggested that future research also investigates measures to achieve greater participation in research surveys by the younger demographic.
Footnotes and references
1. Geoscience Australia (2012) Sea Level Rise Maps, OzCoasts, Australian Government. 2. Bailey, Tara, 2012 ‘Understanding community perceptions of Sea Level Rise in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Victoria' , Research Paper, Prepared for RMIT University, Undergraduate Program: Bachelor of Social Science (Environment), Course work for Courses: Designing Research, Doing Research 3. and 4. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Census Quickstats: Queenscliffe (B) Local Government Area, all people usual residents. 5. and 6. Geoscience Australia, 2012 (op cit) 7. AECOM (2010) Preparing for Climate Change in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan