This article analyzes the perceptions of Puerto Rican citizens of global climate change (GCC) before and after an extreme weather event, specifically Hurricane Maria (HM). The purpose of the current article is to evaluate Puerto Ricans’ perceptions of the impact of extreme meteorological phenomena and of GCC before and after HM. This tropical cyclone entered the island as a category IV hurricane on September 17, 2017, causing enormous destruction, loss of life, and economic damage. In this study, two data samples were collected before and after HM struck Puerto Rico (PR) (the second sample was collected approximately six months after the hurricane). Surveyed citizens with general knowledge of GCC increased from 43% to 62%, which the researchers consider a small increase, considering the severe destruction caused by HM. This study also found that Puerto Ricans trust non-profit institutions and the scientific community more than state authorities. Furthermore, 85% of citizens believe that public policies on GCC should be directed by the state (federal, state, and municipal governments); this did not change after HM. In addition, this study found that the poor response of the federal and state governments to the destruction caused by HM increased citizens’ trust in the scientific community.
References
[1]
Abel, G. J., Brottrager, M., & Cespo, J. M. R. (2019). Climate, Conflict and Forced Migration. Global Environmental Change, 54, 239-249.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.12.003
[2]
Adger, W. N., Butler, C., & Walker, K. (2017). Moral Rea-soning in Adaptation to Climate Change. Environmental Politics, 26, 371-390.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2017.1287624
[3]
Barreto-Orta, M., Méndez-Tejeda, R., Rodríguez, E., Cabrera, N., Díaz, E., & Pérez, K. (2019). State of the Beaches in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria 2017. Shore & Beach, 87, 16-23.
[4]
Benjamin, L. (2010). Climate Change and Caribbean Small Island States: The State of Play. The International Journal of Bahamian Studies, 16, 78-91.
http://researchjournal.cob.edu.bs
https://doi.org/10.15362/ijbs.v16i0.129
[5]
Borick Rabe, B. G. (2012). Fall 2011 National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change. Issues in Governance Studies, Washington DC: Brookings Institution.
[6]
Brody, S. D., Zahran, S., Vedlitz, A., & Grover, H. (2008). Examining the Relationship between Physical Vulnerability and Public Percep-tions of Global Climate Change in the United States. Environment and Behavior, 40, 72-95.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916506298800
[7]
Censo, P. R. (2010). https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-53sp.pdf
[8]
Cheng, L. et al. (2020). Record-Setting Ocean Warmth Continued in 2019. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 37, 137-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-9283-7
[9]
Clayton, S., & Manning, C. (2018). Introduction. In Psychology and Climate Change (pp. 1-10). Amsterdam: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813130-5.00001-1
[10]
Drews, S., & Van den Bergh, J. C. (2016). What Ex-plains Public Support for Climate Policies? A Review of Empirical and Experimental Studies. Climate Policy, 16, 855-876.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2015.1058240
[11]
ETI. Estudios Técnicos Inc. (2018). Estudio de percepción pública sobre el riesgo y la resiliencia al cambio climático en Puerto Rico. Informe final 28 de septiembre de 2018. Estudios Técnicos Inc.
http://drna.pr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Informe-final-Estudio-de-percepcion-publica-sobre-cambio-climatico.pdf
[12]
Hansen, J. et al. (2008). Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? The Open Atmospheric Sci-ence Journal, 2, 217-231.
https://doi.org/10.2174/1874282300802010217
[13]
Hember, R. A., Kurz, W. A. et al. (2017). Relationships be-tween Individual-Tree Mortality and Water-Balance Variables Indicate Positive Trends in Water Stress-Induced Tree Mor-tality across North America. Global Change Biology, 23, 1691-1710.
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13428
[14]
Hernández-Ayala, J. J., Keellings, D., Waylen, P. R., & Matyas, C. J. (2017). Extreme Floods and Their Relationship with Tropical Cyclones in Puerto Rico. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2017.1368521
[15]
Herrera, D. A., Mendez-Tejeda, R., Centella-Artola, A., Martínez-Castro, D., Ault, T., & Delanoy, R. (2021). Projected Hydroclimate Changes on Hispaniola Island through the 21st Century in CMIP6 Models. Atmosphere, 12, 6.
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010006
[16]
Howes, E. L., Birchenough, S., & Lincoln, S. (2018). Effects of Climate Change Relevant to the Pacific Islands.. In Pacific Marine Climate Change Report Card: Science Review (pp. 1-19). UK: Cen-tre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (Cefas).
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/1_Climate_change_overview.pdf
[17]
Hsiang, S. M., Burke, M., & Miguel, E. (2013). Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict. Science, 341, Article ID: 1235367.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1235367
[18]
Hugo, G. (2011). Future Demographic Change and Its Interactions with Migration and Climate Change. Global Environmental Change, 21, S21-S33.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.09.008
[19]
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[20]
IPCC (2014). Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[21]
Karmalkar, A. V., Taylor, M. A., Campbell, J., Stephenson, T., New, M., Centella, A. et al. (2013). A Review of Observed and Projected Changes in Climate for the Is-lands in the Caribbean. Atmósfera, 26, 283-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0187-6236(13)71076-2
[22]
Keellings, D., & Hernández Ayala José, J. (2019). Extreme Rainfall Associated with Hurricane Maria over Puerto Rico and Its Connec-tions to Climate Variability and Change. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 2964. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082077
[23]
Kishore, N., Marqués, D., Mahmud, A., Kiang, M. V., Rodriguez, I., Fuller, A., Ebner, P., Sorensen, C., Racy, F., Lemery, J., Maas, L., Leaning, J., Irizarry, R. A., Balsari, S., & Buckee, C. O. (2018). Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The New England Journal of Medicine, 379, 162-170. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1803972
[24]
Leiserowitz, A. (2006). Climate Change Risk Perception and Policy Preferences: The Role of Affect, Imagery, and Values. Climatic Change, 77, 45-72.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9059-9
[25]
Malhotra, N. (2010). Marketing Research: An Applied Orienta-tion (6th ed.). London: Pearson.
[26]
Mase, A. S., Gramig, B. M., & Prokopy, L. S. (2017). Climate Change Beliefs, Risk Per-ceptions, and Adaptation Behavior among Midwestern U.S. Crop Farmers. Climate Risk Management, 15, 8-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2016.11.004
[27]
McSweeney, C., Lizcano, G., New, M., & Lu, X. (2010). The UNDP Climate Change Country Profiles: Improving the Accessibility of Observed and Projected Climate Information for Studies of Climate Change in Developing Countries. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 91, 157-166.
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2826.1
[28]
Melet, A., Meyssignac, B., Almar, R., & Le Cozannet, G. (2018). Under-Estimated Wave Contribution to Coastal Sea-Level Rise. Nature Climate Change, 8, 234-239.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0088-y
[29]
Méndez-Lázaro, P., Martínez-Sánchez, O., Méndez-Tejeda, R., Rodríguez, E., Morales, E. et al. (2015). Extreme Heat Events in San Juan Puerto Rico: Trends and Variability of Unusual Hot Weather and Its Possible Effects on Ecology and Society. Journal of Climatology & Weather Forecasting, 3, 135. https://doi.org/10.4172/2332-2594.1000135
[30]
Méndez-Tejeda, R. (2017). Increase in the Number of Hot Days for Decades in Puerto Rico 1950-2014. Environment and Natural Resources Research, 7, 16-26.
https://doi.org/10.5539/enrr.v7n3p16
[31]
Méndez-Tejeda, R. (2018). Hurricane Maria: 12 Hours That Changed the History of a Country. Weather, 73, 402-405. https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.3409
[32]
Méndez-Tejeda, R. (2019). An Analysis of the Deaths Reported by Hurricane Maria: A Mini Review. Journal of Scientific Research & Reports (JSRR), 24, 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.9734/jsrr/2019/v24i130144
[33]
Menne, M. J., Williams, C. N., Gleason, B. E., Rennie, J. J., & Lawrimore, J. H. (2018). The Global Historical Climatology Network Monthly Temperature Dataset, Version 4. Journal of Climate, 31, 9835-9854. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0094.1
[34]
Myers, T., Maibach, E. W., Roser-Renouf, C., Akelof, K., & Leiserowitz, A. (2013). The Relationship between Persona Experience and Belief in the Reality of Global Warming. Nature Climate Change, 3, 343-347. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1754
[35]
NCA4 (2018). Fourth National Climate Assessment.
https://nca2018.globalchange.gov
[36]
Nurse, L. A. et al. (2014). Small Islands. In V. R. Barros et al. (Eds.), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects (pp. 1613-1654). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[37]
Papoulis, D., Kaika, D., Bampatsou, C. et al. (2015). Public Perception of Climate Change in a Period of Economic Crisis. Climate, 3, 715-726. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli3030715
[38]
Ramos-Scharrón, C. E., & Arima, E. (2019). Hurricane María’s Precipitation Signature in Puerto Rico: A Conceivable Presage of Rains to Come. Scientific Re-ports, 9, Article No. 15612. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52198-2
[39]
Richards, R. A. (2018). Examining the Sociodemographic Bases of Environmental Concern: An Analysis of the 2016 General Social Survey. shsu-ir.tdl.org.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/2551
[40]
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2020). Environmental Impacts of Food Production.
https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
[41]
Santos-Corrada, M., & Méndez-Tejeda, R. (2017). Public Perception of Climate Change in a Period of Economic Crisis in Puerto Rico. AIMS Environmental Science, 4, 83-93.
https://doi.org/10.3934/environsci.2017.1.83
[42]
Sörqvist, P., & Marsh, J. E. (2019). The Cognitive Psychology of Climate Change. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88963-013-4
[43]
Stenntt-Brown, R. K., Stephenson, T. S., & Taylor, M. A. (2019). Caribbean Climate Change Vulnerability: Lessons from an Aggregate Index Approach. PLoS ONE, 14, e0219250. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219250
[44]
Taylor, M. A., Clarke, L. A., Centella, A., Bezanilla, A., Stephenson, T. S., Jones, J. J. et al. (2018). Future Caribbean Climates in a World of Rising Temperatures: The 1.5 vs 2.0 Dilemma. Journal of Climate, 31, 2907-2926. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0074.1
[45]
Taylor, M. A., Jones, J. J., & Stephenson, T. S. (2016). Climate Change and the Caribbean: Trends and Implications. In Climate Change and Food Security: Africa and the Caribbean (pp. 31-56). London: Routledge.
[46]
Tigchelaara, M., Battistia, D. S., Naylorb Rosamond, L., & Rayc Deepak, K. (2018). Future Warming Increases Probability of Globally Synchronized Maize Production Shocks. PNAS, 115, 6644-6649. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718031115
[47]
Timmermans, B., Stone, D., Wehner, M., & Krishnan, H. (2017). Impact of Tropical Cyclones on Modeled Extreme Wind-Wave Climate. Geophysical Research Letters, 44, 1393-1401. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071681
[48]
Visschers, V., & Siegrist, M. (2018). Differences in Risk Perception between Hazards and between Individuals. In M. Raue, E. Lermer, & B. Streicher (Eds.), Psychological Perspectives on Risk and Risk Analysis: Theory, Models, and Applications (pp. 63-80). Basel: Springer International Publishing AG.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92478-6_3
[49]
Weaver, A. A. (2016). Determinants of Environmental Atti-tudes. International Journal of Sociology, 32, 77-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/15579336.2002.11770245
