Exploring Climate Change Perspectives. An Analysis of Undergraduate Students' Place‐Based Attachment in Appalachia, USA

Abstract

Despite global scientific consensus, climate change is a highly controversial and politicized issue in the United States. Grounded in two quantitative survey iterations with approximately 446 responses, 28 semi‐structured interviews, and 4 focus groups with 60 undergraduate students from six state universities in the Appalachian region, this five‐year study explores the role of place‐based attachment and emotions in framing undergraduate students' climate change perspectives. Results show that the rural, socioeconomic status of Appalachia affects students' perspectives toward climate change and the barrage of information they are exposed to—whether scientific or media or from family—triggers uncertainty and inaction in them. They, in fact, think that climate change is happening elsewhere and will not necessarily affect them. We consider the importance, particularly in natural resource, extraction‐dependent areas of the US, to better understand students' perspectives of climate change, given their role as current and future voters and policymakers. We argue that an emotional and place‐based analysis of students' identities helps to frame climate change as an issue impacting themselves and their communities, prompting students to better articulate their perspectives on climate change.

Digital Transformation to enhance youth awareness of climate issues

“…There is also an inverse relationship between the place of residence and the phrase "to what extent did digitization contribute to your knowledge of climate changes" at a significance level below 0.01 with a significant significance value of 0.005 and the value of the Spearman coefficient of 0.201-. This finding is consistent with a study (Caretta et al, 2022) in the Appalachian region of the United States, that those who live in an isolated rural area do not feel the effects of negative climate changes because they are above sea level, therefore, dealing with the expected risks is related to previous experiences, not to social or economic factors, treatment methods and interventions used .…”

Aiming Higher? Implications for Higher Education of Students’ Views on Education for Climate Justice

“…As might be expected, students in universities with lower levels of learning about climate change and of satisfaction with their learning were less likely to provide positive assessments of what their universities were doing, but on average expressed high expectations in normative terms both about what students and their universities should be doing. Like a number of other studies, we find potential or suggestive links between the political environments in which debates about climate change may take place and also the likelihood and frequency of more direct experience of the impacts of climate change and students' attitudes to climate change and to the role of universities [11,16,17]. The nature of direction of these relationships is complex, and the role of universities themselves in shaping attitudes is challenging to identify.…”

“…At the same time, recent events in Hawaii including the devastating wildfires in 2023 in Maui highlight the immediacy of concerns in that context. Caretta et al draw a similar conclusion based on a survey to 446 students in the Appalachian region of the USA, arguing that students 'in fact think that climate change is happening elsewhere and will not affect them', arguing that 'the social economic and cultural values associated with extraction influence their attitudes towards the issue' [17].…”

Impacts of Climate Change on Rural Communities: Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Global South

“…Generally, rural populations may not see climate change as a problem that affects them directly, mistakenly thinking they are somehow safe from it or that the matter is unrelated to them; even in marginalized areas heavily dependent on the land, people may be more convinced by family viewpoints than science, so a seeming denial of climate change is more akin to information not being used [40]. Other rural populations may be resistant to engaging in alternative agricultural approaches, for example, because they do not perceive benefits or reason to do so [41].…”