Rice field in Indonesia
Nearly 90 percent of Indonesians in East Kalimantan and Central Java are aware of climate change, reports a study published in Nature Climate Change.
In a survey of 6,310 households over a two year period, Erin Bohensky of Australia’s CSIRO and colleagues found that the vast majority (82 percent) of respondents reported to have observed climate change, while 71 percent perceived it as a risk. However less than 40 percent said they are adapting to its impacts.
The results suggest that Indonesian authorities should shift away from from raising basic awareness toward identifying ways to encourage communities to take more proactive measures to adapt to climate change.
A nation of islands and prone to natural disasters, Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate change impacts in Indonesia are expected to include increased severity of drought and flood cycles, rising sea levels, higher incidence of fire, and warmer temperatures, potentially impacting crop yields.
CITATION: Erin L. Bohensky, Alex Smajgl and Tom Brewer. Patterns in household-level engagement with climate change in Indonesia. Nature Climate Change PUBLISHED ONLINE: 9 DECEMBER 2012 DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1762
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