The research into the climate change perception, observation and policy support in rural Nevada between non-native ranchers, Native Americans, and mainstream America is relevant because the differing opinions on the rate of climate change and the existence of climate change can heavily impact our environment in the near future. Climate change has an extreme and heavy impact on the whole planet, not just the U.S. or the state of Nevada. The research found in the study can cover the arid and semi-arid climates in our country as well. (Smith, et al. 101)
Between the ranchers and the native tribes, the Native American tribes are more inclined to admit and believe that climate change is taking place. As stated in the introduction of the article: “Major climate change surveys have been conducted in the U.S. in the last twenty years.” (101). In the study conducted, about 60% of Nevada’s farmers believe we are in a period of climate change compared to the 100% of environmental managers for the native American tribes. Both groups, the rancher-farmers (RF) and the environmental managers (EM), are noted to have similar education and major land and water management responsibilities. RFs are much less inclined to believe in climate change compared to the tribes, according to a t-test conducted between the two groups (Smith, et al. 106).
The researchers for this article were looking into the adverse effects a lack of knowledge about climate change can have upon the population of rancher-farmers, Native Americans, and the mainstream Americans in our country. The purpose in reporting this research is educating and eventually reversing the effects of climate change before we cause irreversible damage to the planet and its ecosystem. The researchers were inspired to perform the study to educate the public on the true hazards of climate change in our country. As exemplified by the numerous studies and polls performed in the article, the rancher-farmers are the group that least believes that climate change is an extremely important priority. “RF responses at a personal scale were a mere 25% very to extremely important…” (Smith, et al. 109). On the opposite spectrum, 93% Native Americans were reported to “find it a high to top priority at the national scale.” (Smith, et al. 109)
The researchers were also looking to see how the awareness of climate change among Americans had evolved in the past twenty years. From 1989, the percentage rose from 70% to 92% in 2003 (Smith, et al. 108). The methods used to draw up the conclusions for this article stem from numerous surveys and videos given to the public, the rancher-farmers, and Native Americans. The main conclusions they’ve come to (through the results in the article) that most rancher-farmers, when compared to Native Americans, tend to not believe that climate change is occurring.
The article very limitedly explains about the Native Americans’ beliefs in the topic, only mentioning them in the beginning pages, then disincluding them for the later portions of the paper. However, it goes into detail about the different factors for the types of perception the different types of people have about climate change. For example, this figure differs when political views, religious views, education, gender, and age are factored in. More Democrat and left-leaning rancher-farmers tend to believe in climate change than their Republican counterparts. Female RFs are more knowledgeable about climate change and exhibit more concern for the topic than male rancher-farmers. Roughly about ¾ of rancher-farmers are unsure that climate change will impact them or that it will even occur (Smith, et al. 119). Meanwhile, Native Americans observe about an 86% decrease in snow packs, a 79% earlier runoff period, and 75% increased temperatures. Religious beliefs among Native Americans assist the climate change policy as well.
The perception of climate change is ultimately larger in today’s times than in the past. More female RFs are inclined believe and have scientifically accurate facts about it versus the men. More Native Americans and EMs believe in the climate change policy than the average, mainstream American. According to the research article entitled, “Climate Change Communication” from Yale and the George Mason University:
“Our latest national survey finds that a large majority of Americans think global warming is happening, outnumbering those who don’t by 5 to 1. Americans are also growing more certain that global warming is happening. Certainty has increased 12 percentage points in the past 3 years, with 49% of the public now “extremely” or “very sure” that global warming is happening.” (Leiserowitz, et al. para 1)
Because of the information presented to us by the article, it is clear that many Americans have begun to believe in climate change. Similarly, the Native Americans have also begun to acknowledge the climate changes occurring in the United States. The last group to begin realizing the extremity of climate change in our country, are the rancher-farmers. The results show that we must focus on assisting the research further into this topic with the Native-American tribes. For the ranchers, we must work on bridging the gap of correct and factual information between both genders. Between the three groups, climate change is only beginning to become a well-known larger issue that spans all groups of people; male, female, Native-American, rancher-farmer, and the rest of the country.
Works Cited:
Smith, William James, et al. “Climate Change Perception, Observation and Policy Support in Rural Nevada: A Comparative Analysis of Native Americans, Non-Native Ranchers and Farmers and Mainstream America.” Environmental Science & Policy, vol. 42, 5 July 2014, pp. 101–122., doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2014.03.007.
Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Rosenthal, S., Cutler, M., & Kotcher, J. (2017). Climate change in the American mind: March 2018. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.