By: Sabrina Cerquera & Thea Crowley
Introduction
As concerns about climate change continues to rise headlines and reach news stands, many individuals have expressed their concern to take action. As students in Lewis & Clark College enrolled in Environmental Studies 160, we were able to look further into this worry of the public. Breaking into teams, all the students taking Introduction to Environmental Studies in Spring 2017 visited Downtown Portland or Periphery locations to conduct surveys.
Forming a team of two, we were able to go into Downtown Portland and see what random individuals had to say about their concerns about climate change in a 3-minutes three question survey.
This study was composed in an attempt to understand the correlation between the ranked importance of climate change to individuals by their gender, age, race/ethnicity, and location in Portland. We also compared the gathered data from Pew Research Center about the cross-national sense of urgency when it comes to Climate Change.
Methods
In order to find and yield our research data, our team commuted to Hawthorne Boulevard in Downtown Portland, Oregon via the Trimet to facilitated the survey distribution. Each team member than separated to each side of the street to get different flows of people walking the strip, successfully we were able to complete a total of six surveys (three surveys per team member). Each survey asked the following three questions:
- If you compare climate change to other issues today, how important is it to you personally? *Explain the scale, from 1 (much LESS important than other issues) to 10 (much MORE important than other issues).
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We’d love to hear more of your thoughts about climate change. *Write down the basics of their answer, and put quotes in quotation marks so we can later know what they actually said vs. what you summarized.
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We are interested in looking for patterns across Portland. What is your home ZIP code? *Make sure to enter a 5-digit ZIP code.
Once the survey taker left, the following information was gathered based on perception:
- Gender identification
- Age
- Race/ Ethnicity
- Portland Periphery or Downtown (location the survey took place)
Our team then after returned to campus and reviews the process, reactions, and data that was collected from that day’s surveys. Following up our team meet again to sort data and formulate graphs and charts to accurately represent the data collected from our Environmental Studies class in the Greater Portland Area. These charts allow us to be able to compare the US and cross national data to the data collected in Portland.
Results
Importance of Climate Change in relation to Other Issues
Surprisingly, of the 150 survey results that were collected no person ranked the importance as a 1. This helps show that among the people surveyed there was at least acknowledgement and familiarity with the topic. Forty-four people ranked the importance of climate change as a 10. About 19.3% of people surveyed ranked the importance of climate change at five and below. There is potential that these results were affected by confirmation bias.
Importance of Climate Change in relation to Age
The Over 60 demographic had the highest mean on the importance of Climate Change. The Under 30 demographic was a close second. Most of the Under 30 group discussed the issue of Climate Change with a sense of urgency.
Importance of Climate Change in relation to Gender
The male and female survey participants had very close importance rank means. There is uncertainty in the relation between the data distribution for male, female, and unsure.
Importance of Climate Change in relation to Location
While the mean importance rank was higher in the PDX Downtown area, there was not a large difference between the Periphery and Downtown. This can be due the greater influx of survey distributed in the Downtown area.
Importance of Climate Change in relation to Race/Ethnicity
Most of the people surveyed were white. Overall the mean importance was very comparable across races/ethnicities.
Discussions
When reviewing the data collecting, it is important to recognize that in our small study there could be conformation bias. This is because we disclosed the topic of the survey before interviewing individual. In regards to the different age demographics, we noticed that the Under 30 group seemed to be more educated on issues of Climate Change. This could be because of exposure to rhetoric around Climate Change and environmental issues. With the people over 60, we note that the elderly are likely to focus on legislation around climate change. There is also a sense of worry related to catastrophic damage due to Climate Change.
There were common trends vocalized by the participants of the survey. First, many individuals felt that they did not have enough knowledge and understanding to form an opinion on the topic. Second, there were individuals that were very skeptical of the science backing Climate Change. Third, many individuals found that in relation to their own lives other issues (ie, the economy, healthcare, and the new administration) were more impactful.
The United States is typically known for its apathy when it comes to the issue of Climate Change. Nations that suffer the most dramatic effects of Climate Change are more concerned with the issue. And even though the United States and China are the largest producers of CO2, they are shown to be the least concerned about Climate Change. While the people of Portland seem very concern about Climate Change, when comparing them to those in the rest of America, there is more disagreement on the urgency of action for Climate Change.
After completing this study, we were surprised to see how many people were skeptical about the science behind Climate Change. We were happy to learn that people were willing to acknowledge Climate Change and showed a desire to better educate themselves on the topic.
Acknowledgments
We would like to Lewis & Clark College for providing us with the technological resources for this survey. James Proctor, Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of ENVS for guiding and aiding us in this survey experiment alongside with the digital scholarship skills we have learned throughout his course. The Trimet for running routes to our survey location. And lastly, the participants that allowed us to survey them and voiced their concerns about climate change.