BookMeredith Welch-Devine, Anne Sourdril, Brian J. Burke, editors.
Summary: This book explores how individuals and communities perceive and understand climate change using their observations of change in the world around them. Because processes of climatic change operate at spatial and temporal scales that differ from those of everyday practice, the phenomenon can be difficult to understand. However, flora and fauna, which are important natural and cultural resources for human communities, do respond to the pressures of environmental change. Humans, in turn, observe and adapt to those responses, even when they may not understand their causes. Much of the discussion about human experiences of our changing climate centers on disasters and extreme events, but we argue that a focus on the everyday, on the microexperiences of change, has the advantage of revealing how people see, feel, and make sense of climate change in their own lives. The chapters of this book are drawn from Asia, Europe, Africa, and South and North America. They use ethnographic inquiry to understand local knowledge and perceptions of climate change and the social and ecological changes inextricably intertwined with it. Together, they illustrate the complex process of coming to know climate change, show some of the many ways that climate change and our responses to it inflict violence, and point to promising avenues for moving toward just and authentic collaborative responses.
Contents:
Intro
Foreword
Contents
About the Editors
Chapter 1: Understanding Microexperiences of Climate Change: How Climate Ethnography Informs Collaboration, Adaptation, and Effective Responses
1.1 Key Insights for Climate Ethnography
1.2 This Volume
References
Chapter 2: Fishers' Perceptions of Environmental and Climate Change in Puerto Rico: Implications for Adaptation and Sustainability
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 Climate Change and Fisheries
2.1.2 Puerto Rico Fisheries
2.2 Methods of Data Collection
2.3 Measurements and Analyses
2.3.1 Fishers' Characteristics
2.3.1.1 Job Satisfaction 2.3.1.2 Environmental Ethic
2.3.2 Perceptions on Status of Fishery Resources
2.3.3 Perceptions of Climate Change and Other Anthropogenic Impacts
2.3.4 Factors Influencing Perceptions of Climate Change
2.3.5 Fishers' Adaptations to Change
2.4 Discussion
2.4.1 Perceptions of Change and Adaptations
2.4.2 Factors Influencing Fishers' Perceptions
2.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: "We Used to go Asking for the Rains": Local Interpretations of Environmental Changes and Implications for Natural Resource Management in Hwange District, Zimbabwe
3.1 Introduction 3.2 Studying Perceptions of Environmental Changes in a Context of Rapid Transformations
3.2.1 Land Distribution and Conservation in Hwange: Strong Constraints for Subsistence
3.2.2 Community-Based Natural Resource Management
3.2.3 Local Knowledge and Perceptions of Environmental Changes
3.3 Climate Change: Local Knowledge and Related Practices of Natural Resource Management
3.3.1 Climate Knowledge and the Unpredictability of the Rain
3.3.2 Forecasting the Rain: The Main Role of Birds and Trees
3.3.3 Protecting Sacred Trees by Perpetuating Rainmaking Ceremonies 3.4 What Do These Representations Say About Inequalities in Environmental Management?
3.4.1 Mobilizing Management Policies as Proximal Causes
3.4.2 "We used to go asking for the rain"
3.4.3 People's Marginalization from Their Rights Over the Land and the Natural Resources
3.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Indigenous Knowledge and Dynamics Among Himalayan Peoples, Vegetation, and Climate Change
4.1 Himalayan Climate Change
4.2 Himalayan Research Sites, Peoples, and Methods
4.3 Vegetation Responses to Climate Change
4.4 Human Responses to Climate Change 4.5 Vegetation Responses Affect People
4.6 Human Responses Affect Vegetation and Climate Change
4.7 A Dynamic Whole
4.8 Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 5: Observing "Weeds" to Understand Local Perceptions of Environmental Change in a Temperate Rural Area of Southwestern France
5.1 Introduction: "More and More Weeds": How to Get Rid of Weeds in the Cemetery?
5.2 Study Area and Methods: Ethnography of Rain, Weeds, and Rural Exodus in a House-Centered Society in Rural Southwestern France
5.3 Results and Discussion - When Weed Management Becomes an Issue in a Community Facing Climate and Social Changes: How to Deal with a Growing Problem with Fewer People?