Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2010
Capstone Advisor
Sarah B. Pralle
Honors Reader
Danny Hayes
Capstone Major
Political Science
Capstone College
Citizenship and Public Affairs
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
yes
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Comparative Politics | International Relations | Political Science
Abstract
“The Backyard Effect” hypothesizes that for an issue as potentially abstract, complex, and vast-in-scope as climate change, it will take experiential evidence of impacts in order for people to change and view the problem as urgent – and take action. In order to test this hypothesis, this project set out to interview citizens in climate change-impacted regions around the world in order to explore any connections between personal experience and personal opinion and action. The methodology involved personal interviews with residents, analysis of poll numbers, and use of media reports in locations currently experiencing the impacts of climate change.
Based on case studies in Switzerland, Iceland, Montana, and Alaska, this report argues that a backyard effect indeed exists when it comes to one’s personal relationship to climate change. Except, instead of a quantifiable impact on polling results on climate change credibility, a geographically proximate climate impact can affect different communities in less quantifiable ways. For example, one group may view the changes as part of a grander natural cycle, and another may focus on economic impacts as evidence of the reality of the threat, which much dependent on a community’s culture and economic dependencies. In all, it can be concluded that the visible impacts of climate change do impact community views of the climate change phenomenon, especially when impacts have direct financial consequences to the community.
Recommended Citation
Eggleston, Kevin, "The Backyard Effect How the Experience of Impacts of Climate Change Affects Opinion and Discourse" (2010). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 386.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/386
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
