Hydrogeological and Climatological Risks Perception in a Multi-Hazard Environment: The Case of Greece

Abstract

Climate-related hazards, such as wildfires and hydrogeological phenomena, cause extensive damages and casualties around the world. Despite the recent advances and technologies for risk mitigation, it is acknowledged that public risk perception is a critical factor for these tools to succeed. Greece and the broader Eastern Mediterranean is an area where, despite the diversity of natural disasters, there is a lack of understanding of the hazard types that people are most concerned with and how they measure against other groups of hazards (i.e., geophysical). This work uses an online survey targeting Greek people, aiming to provide a better understanding of their perception of different natural hazards. Statistical results show that people consider climate-related hazards less dangerous and likely to occur than earthquakes, which occur often as zero-impact events. Laymen may thus underestimate certain risks, which may inhibit appropriate preparation. Disaster experience was found to increase threat perceptions and to motivate preparedness. However, in what concerns climate-related hazards, the effect of experience may fade out over time. Awareness activities were found to associate with higher emergency response efficacy. Males exhibit lower risk perception and higher coping appraisals. However, prioritization of risks is almost identical between genders. Implications for risk management are discussed.

Types of Behavior of Flood Victims around Floodwaters. Correlation with Situational and Demographic Factors

“…Older people may have more experiences of past floods as well, which may influence their views and therefore their attitude. However, very distant experiences are not expected to change their perception significantly [60]. The trend of older victims not exhibiting risk-taking behavior is a pattern recorded previously in single flood events as well.…”

Identification of Patterns and Influential Factors on Civil Protection Personnel Opinions and Views on Different Aspects of Flood Risk Management: The Case of Greece

“…In terms of risk perception, the ranking follows the same order to the one found by Diakakis [55] and Papagiannaki et al [56] in laypeople risk perception surveys in Greece. This is probably attributed to the fact that the country has experienced catastrophic damages and fatalities (over 1000 in the last century) from numerous catastrophic earthquakes in the past [46].…”

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

“…Raising awareness : Participation in a citizen science project is likely to raise awareness of the issue being studied when engagement leads to learning (Brossard, Lewenstein, & Bonney, 2005). Raised awareness is known to correlate (via subsequent steps) with environmental stewardship (Jordan et al, 2011) and communities' preparedness for natural hazards (Papagiannaki, Diakakis, Kotroni, Lagouvardos, & Andreadakis, 2019). However, individuals who volunteer for a project are likely to be already aware of the issue, hence their interest.…”