This can lead to the attribution of unique weather events to climate change, which can be aligned to underlying perceptions of, or belief in, climate change ( Weber 1997). Indeed, differentiating between weather and climate 1 can be difficult for nonscientific communities ( Weber 2010). Yet, there are complexities attached to both sources. While the former relies on the personal interpretation of localized weather events, the latter puts the responsibility on scientific interpretation. Weber (2010) uses categorizations of personal experience and statistical description to differentiate between sources of climate change information. How do nonscientific communities construct understandings of climate change?Ĭlimate can be understood through formal longitudinal meteorological statistics or as an imaginary constructed by local perceptions, actions, and cultures ( Hulme et al. Stakeholders are defined as individuals with a livelihood and/or lifestyle dependency on natural snow and who therefore maintain a deep sense of appreciation of the critical relationship among local weather, business performance ( Smith 1993), and recreational activities. This qualitative research engages with a range of stakeholders from the ski industry. The availability of natural snowfall and the development of winter sports was critical to the transformation of Queenstown from a domestic destination to an all-season international resort, a transition that dates to the opening of the first commercial ski field in the region, Coronet Peak, over half a century ago ( Higham 2005). The empirical research presented in this paper is situated in the Queenstown Lakes (Queenstown hereafter) region of New Zealand, an international tourism destination. So far, however, there has been little discussion about the variety of information sources used by nonscientific communities, the interplay between the sources, and how these sources of information are perceived by the nonscientific public ( Lorenzoni and Hulme 2009). Research concerning the processes through which climate change becomes socially understood has focused on values and ideologies ( Hulme 2009) and individual information sources ( Wilson 2000a Myers et al. 2012).Īttention has begun to turn to the ways through which nonscientific communities come to know about, and thereby socially construct perceptions of, climate change. 2007 Hulme 2012) and increasingly using national and even local-scale climate modeling ( Hennessy et al. Knowledge about the physical phenomenon of climate change is quantified and measured on a global and regional scale by institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( Solomon et al. Acknowledging the existence of these two conceptualizations of climate change is essential in order to appreciate the many varied ways that the nonscientific public can perceive, know about, and understand climate change ( Hulme 2012). This paper concludes that locally relevant information on climate change is required to ensure that it is applicable to nonscientific realities and lived experiences.Ĭlimate change is both a physical and a social phenomenon ( Hulme 2008, 2009 Urry 2011). It finds that personal experiences of weather are used to interpret other sources of information and are drawn upon to corroborate and reject the existence of climate change and its relevance for their locality. It explores the sources of information used by these communities to construct understandings about climate change, their perceptions of these sources, the dominant interpretive factors, and the interactions between the information sources. This paper presents a qualitative study of 52 ski industry stakeholders in Queenstown, New Zealand. However, little consideration has been made of the interplay between information sources and how these sources are perceived by nonscientific communities in terms of trust. Research has considered the roles of independent sources of information used to inform these communities, ranging from media sources to personal experiences. Thus, climate change is becoming socialized through nonscientific interpretation. It is argued that this is because climate change has become simultaneously a physical and a social phenomenon. While the term “climate change” is highly recognized by the nonscientific general public, understandings of its manifestations are varied, contrasting, and complex.
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