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The regional framing of climate change: towards a place-based perspective on regional climate change perception in north Frisia

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Abstract

Numerous studies have begun to tackle the social and cultural dimensions of perceiving and framing climate change. Scholars from geography and environmental psychology in particular have started to highlight the importance of so-called place-based approaches to studying regional and local framings of climate change. This paper stands in this tradition. It reports on findings derived from a nationwide survey of perceptions of and reactions to extreme weather events and interviews conducted with inhabitants of three islands in the coastal region of North Frisia (Germany). Coastal dwellers understand climate change through the lens of local and regional experiences of meteorological phenomena, seasonal changes, knowledge of the sea, and changes in local flora and fauna. Our detailed ecolinguistic analysis revealed six prevailing conceptual metaphors: Climate change is an enemy, preventing climate change is fight/war, climate change is punishment for human sins, climate change is overheating/heat, climate change is hot air/hoax and climate change is eco-dictatorship. These metaphors were used to make sense of climate change at the regional level and provide insights into place-based social and cultural conceptualisations of climate change. An understanding of these meanings should feed into developing more grounded climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in coastal regions.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been financed by the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM (Regional Climate Change) and was conducted within the working group 7 ‘Risk analysis and risk management for integrated climate strategies’. We would like to thank our interviewees for their time and effort and the two reviewers who helped us to considerably improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, University of Hamburg, Bundesstraße 55, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Döring & Beate Ratter

  2. Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Max-Planck-Str. 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Martin Döring

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  1. Martin Döring
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Correspondence to Martin Döring.

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Döring, M., Ratter, B. The regional framing of climate change: towards a place-based perspective on regional climate change perception in north Frisia. J Coast Conserv 22, 131–143 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-016-0478-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-016-0478-0

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