UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2011 Climate change in rural Nevada: The influence of vulnerability on risk perception and environmental behavior Ahmad Safi University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Climate Commons, Environmental Policy Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, and the Sustainability Commons Repository Citation Safi, Ahmad, "Climate change in rural Nevada: The influence of vulnerability on risk perception and environmental behavior" (2011). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 906. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2255113 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). 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CLIMATE CHANGE IN RURAL NEVADA: THE INFLUENCE OF VULNERABILITY ON RISK PERCEPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR by Ahmad Saleh Safi Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) Birzeit University, Ramallah, Palestine 1997 Master of Science (Environmental Science and Technology) International Institute of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, the Netherlands 2002 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the partial requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science School of Environmental and Public Affairs Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2011 Copyright by Ahmad Saleh Safi 2011 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the dissertation prepared under our supervision by Ahmad Saleh Safi entitled Climate Change in Rural Nevada: The Influence of Vulnerability on Risk Perception and Environmental Behavior be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science School of Environmental and Public Affairs William James Smith, Jr., Committee Chair Helen Neill, Committee Member David Hassenzahl, Committee Member Robert Futrell, Committee Member Daniel Benyshek, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2011 ii ABSTRACT Climate Change in Rural Nevada: The Influence of Vulnerability on Risk Perception and Environmental Behavior by Ahmad Saleh Safi Dr. William James Smith, Jr., Examination Committee Chair Assistant Professor of Environmental Science University of Nevada, Las Vegas In this research, I examine the impact of vulnerability on risk perception, stated willingness to adopt individual mitigation behavior, and support for climate change mitigation policies. My major research question is, “Does vulnerability to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for climate change mitigation policies?” But to understand the role of vulnerability I also pursue answers to questions regarding its three components: Physical vulnerability; sensitivity and adaptive capacity. I investigate the following sub-questions: • Do physical vulnerability, and sensitivity to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for climate change mitigation policies? • Does greater adaptive capacity to climate change decrease risk perception, discourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and weaken support for climate change mitigation policies? The research population is Nevada farmers and ranchers. This research is based on my work for a Nevada NSF EPSCoR project titled, “Nevada Infrastructure for Climate Change Science, Education and Outreach.” Specifically, my research is a part of the iii activities of the Policy, Decision Making and Outreach project’s component. Within this project, Nevada ranchers and farmers were surveyed in December 2009 and August 2010 regarding their socioeconomic characteristics and climate change related knowledge, beliefs, risk perceptions, environmental behaviors and policy preferences. I utilize the data gathered in that survey in addition to GIS based secondary data on water availability and use, and population densities in Nevada. Using the GIS based secondary data, I map Water Resource Vulnerability in Nevada to perform an assessment of physical vulnerability to climate change. I assess both sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change using the socioeconomic data collected from the survey. Then, I aggregate the three vulnerability components into a composite vulnerability index unique to each farmer and rancher. I employ multiple regression analysis to investigate the influence of the composite vulnerability index, and its three separate components on risk perceptions. I utilize logistic regression to investigate the influence of the composite vulnerability index and its components on the willingness to adopt climate change mitigation individual actions and support for mitigation policies. The research establishes that vulnerability to climate change is not a significant factor in determining risk perception or the willingness to engage in, or support most of the climate change mitigation actions or policies. While vulnerable ranchers and farmers are more supportive of taking actions mitigating climate change; they are less supportive of climate change mitigation polices perceived as being costly including taxing corporations and fuel. iv DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to dedicate this dissertation to the soul of my father, Saleh Safi (May his soul rest in peace), and the prayers of my mother Fatma Safi. For a long period of time, my father was the real motive behind my academic progress. He always believed that education is the only path for the Palestinian refugees to recover from impoverishment and misery. He was a patient educator and a strict disciplinarian. My mother has always been a source of comfort and security. She is always supportive, loving and caring. Her prayers have always helped me succeed and avoid mishaps throughout my journey in life. My wife Fatma, and my children Eva, Luna and Salah deserve most of the honor and appreciation associated with earning the Ph.D. degree. They patiently endured many types of stress. My wife traveled from the Middle East to the U.S. with three children ranging from 6 month to 4 years old. My family spent days and sometimes weeks without any entertainment, with me being busy 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. I owe them enormously and I cannot even begin to repay their support. I would like to acknowledge my advisor, friend and role model Dr. William James Smith, Jr. for all the guidance, leadership and support he offered in the past three and a half years. Dr. Smith has always been generous with his time, ideas and passion. I also extend my appreciation to Drs. David Hassenzahl and Helen Neill; they have tremendously contributed to my intellectual growth and social wellbeing. They taught me some of the most important classes in my academic career that will impact me the rest of my life. They also were generous to invite me to their houses and introduce me to their wonderful families. I also thank Drs. Daniel Benyshek and Robert Futrell for their time v spent following my dissertation progress and critiquing my work. Dr. Bensheck gave me my first lessons about Native Americans, for which I have tremendous respect and compassion. Dr. Futrell has always been generous to me; he helped developing a survey that is the backbone of this research, and advised regarding the development of my research and analysis. This work wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the National Science foundation (NSF) and the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), as part of the Nevada Infrastructure for Climate Change Science, Education, and Outreach project (Agreement No. EPS-0814372). I am so honored to be a Fulbright scholar, and so I am very grateful to the U.S. Department of State, the J. Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB), and the American-Mideast Educational and Training Services Inc. for granting and managing my scholarship. Many organizations helped me throughout my research project either by providing secondary data or precious technical support. Those organizations include the Dessert Research Institute (DRI), the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, the Center for Environmental Systems Research, Kassel University, Germany, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. My research would have never been completed without the generosity of Nevada ranchers and farmers, who spent considerable time reading, contemplating and completing a survey that formed the backbone of my research project. Apart from my dissertation work, I was privileged to work on a research project with Nevada Native Americans. I visited many reservations and met many great people from various tribes. I am so thankful to the Native American nations