MYTHS AND REALITIES IN THE PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG THE FISHERS IN KERALA

Abstract

The exposure to bio physical and socio-economic impacts of climate change are largely affecting the coastal community, owing to the very nature of their high dependency on marine resources makes the community more vulnerable. However, the poor understanding of the range of possible impacts of climate change by the community is a limiting factor to take up adaptation and mitigation options and to make the community more resilient. Hence, this study is to assess the level of awareness of the community on different features of climate change in the two selected vulnerable coastal villages of Ernakulam district, namely Ochanthuruth and Njarackal, using comprehensive interview schedule, was administered across 300 households. Perception analysis and Garett ranking were employed to evaluate the scenario. The results revealed that 97 percent of the sample opined that the temperature is the most significant visible feature of climate change. Substantial reduction in income with a score of 94.44 and reduction in fish catch with a score of 73.04 were found to be the major problems perceived by respondents in relation to climate change. However, their awareness on climate change seems to be very shallow as they could not properly delineate their climate change problems from others.