More Talk, No Action? The Effect of Exposure to Extreme Weather Events on Climate Change Concern and Pro-Environmental Behaviour

Abstract

The exposure to extreme weather events has been linked to higher belief in climate change and the likelihood of engaging in pro-environmental behaviour. Supposedly, personal exposure reduces the subjectively perceived spatial and temporal distance to climate events, and thus increases the belief in climate change and environmentally friendly behaviour.This study exploits the variation in temporal and spatial distance to floods and periods of extreme temperature, and estimate the effect of personal experience on climate change belief and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour. Therefore, I connect individual-level panel data of up to 120,852 observations from 67,547 individuals to floods across England and heatwaves across the UK between 2008 and 2020. I control for large-scale spatial patterns and pre-existing differences between affected and non-affected individuals using person-fixed effects estimators.Results reveal that individuals are more likely to believe in climate change when they are affected by floods or heatwaves, and the effect is stronger for spatially and temporally proximate events. However, this does not translate into more pro-environmental behaviour: results provide only slightest evidence for a positive overall change in behaviour. Still, people differ in their reaction to extreme weather events. While the effect on climate change belief is mainly driven by individuals with initially low trust-levels, only respondents with a high level of general trust show some signs of positive behavioural reactions to extreme weather events.

Handbook of Sociological Science: Contributions to Rigorous Sociology

“…Without a doubt, sociological work can be of great use for advancing our understanding of attitudes to climate change, especially in relation to the interplay between individual and contextual factors. For example, a recent study by Rüttenauer (2021) applies rigorous modeling to demonstrate that the extent to which extreme weather events bring about shifts in climate change beliefs depends on people's trust levels. However, when we consider the climate crisis, attitudes on their own ultimately only have limited relevance.…”

Pro-Environment Behaviors, Efficacy Beliefs, Perceived Individual and Social Norms: A Questionnaire Survey in a Sample of Young Adults From Pakistan

“…In addition, experiencing extreme weather events can evoke strong emotional feelings about environmental issues. Because being personally affected also increases the perceived risk of further negative impacts, it should increase the propensity to engage in mitigating behaviors, that is, PEB (Clayton, 2020;Clayton & Karazsia, 2020;Clayton & Manning, 2018;Doherty, 2018;Doherty & Clayton, 2011;Howe et al, 2019;R€ uttenauer, 2021;Simon et al, 2022;Swim et al, 2009).…”

If not now, when? Climate disaster and the Green vote following the 2021 Germany floods

“…Theoretically, exposure to extreme weather events or climate-related natural disasters can help individuals to better understand the risks related to climate change, which otherwise remain abstract (Weber, 2016). Empirically, research on the transition from attitudinal to behavioural change has identified the effects of such exposure on individuals’ preparedness to take individual climate action (Demski et al, 2017; Rüttenauer, 2021; Spence et al, 2011) and hypothetical support for pro-environment politicians (Rudman et al, 2013), in both observational and experimental settings.…”