TY - JOUR
T1 - A sequential model to link contextual risk, perception and public support for flood adaptation policy
AU - Shao, Wanyun
AU - Xian, Siyuan
AU - Lin, Ning
AU - Small, Mitchell J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Kirby Goidel, LaDonn Swann, Tracy Sempier, and Melissa Schneider for their support in designing and implementing the 2012 Gulf Coast Climate Change Survey. The survey research included in the analysis was supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Gulf of Mexico Coastal Storm Program under NOAA Award NA10OAR4170078, Texas Sea Grant, Louisiana Sea Grant, Florida Sea Grant, and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. The views expressed herein do necessarily reflect the views of any of these organizations. Neither the organizations nor the individuals named above bear any responsibility for any remaining errors. We would like to thank Nida Jackson for raw data processing. S. Xian and N. Lin are supported by National Science Foundation Grant: NSF-EAR-1520683. M.J. Small was supported by the Anderson Family Visiting Professorship in Energy and the Environment, while visiting Princeton University in the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The economic damage from coastal flooding has dramatically increased over the past several decades, owing to rapid development in shoreline areas and possible effects of climate change. To respond to these trends, it is imperative for policy makers to understand individuals' support for flood adaptation policy. Using original survey data for all coastal counties of the United States Gulf Coast merged with contextual data on flood risk, this study investigates coastal residents' support for two adaptation policy measures: incentives for relocation and funding for educational programs on emergency planning and evacuation. Specifically, this study explores the interactive relationships among contextual flood risks, perceived flood risks and policy support for flood adaptation, with the effects of social-demographic variables being controlled. Age, gender, race and partisanship are found to significantly affect individuals' policy support for both adaptation measures. The contextual flooding risks, indicated by distance from the coast, maximum wind speed and peak height of storm surge associated with the last hurricane landfall, and percentage of high-risk flood zone per county, are shown to impact one's perceptions of risk, which in turn influence one's support for both policy measures. The key finding –risk perception mediates the impact of contextual risk conditions on public support for flood management policies – highlights the need to ensure that the public is well informed by the latest scientific, engineering and economic knowledge. To achieve this, more information on current and future flood risks and options available for mitigation as well as risk communication tools are needed.
AB - The economic damage from coastal flooding has dramatically increased over the past several decades, owing to rapid development in shoreline areas and possible effects of climate change. To respond to these trends, it is imperative for policy makers to understand individuals' support for flood adaptation policy. Using original survey data for all coastal counties of the United States Gulf Coast merged with contextual data on flood risk, this study investigates coastal residents' support for two adaptation policy measures: incentives for relocation and funding for educational programs on emergency planning and evacuation. Specifically, this study explores the interactive relationships among contextual flood risks, perceived flood risks and policy support for flood adaptation, with the effects of social-demographic variables being controlled. Age, gender, race and partisanship are found to significantly affect individuals' policy support for both adaptation measures. The contextual flooding risks, indicated by distance from the coast, maximum wind speed and peak height of storm surge associated with the last hurricane landfall, and percentage of high-risk flood zone per county, are shown to impact one's perceptions of risk, which in turn influence one's support for both policy measures. The key finding –risk perception mediates the impact of contextual risk conditions on public support for flood management policies – highlights the need to ensure that the public is well informed by the latest scientific, engineering and economic knowledge. To achieve this, more information on current and future flood risks and options available for mitigation as well as risk communication tools are needed.
KW - Contextual flood risk factors
KW - Flood adaptation
KW - Policy support
KW - Risk perception
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U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.05.072
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.05.072
M3 - Article
C2 - 28601034
AN - SCOPUS:85020276899
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 122
SP - 216
EP - 225
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
ER -