Download or read book Understanding Local Sea Level Rise Risk Perceptions and the Power of Maps to Change Them written by David Retchless and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sea level rise poses a significant threat to people and property in many U.S. coastal communities. Because sea level rise adaptation depends in part on recognizing this threat, there is a need to communicate sea level rise risk. However, some audiences may not be receptive to information about local sea level rise risk, particularly if they see sea level rise as a distant hazard or hold doubtful or dismissive beliefs about climate change in general. By making visible the impacts of sea level rise on local communities, sea level rise maps may meet these challenges to sea level rise communication. This dissertation explores this potential. Using an interactive map of sea level rise in Sarasota, Florida and an accompanying online survey, it considers how college students from nearby and far away from Sarasota, and with different views about climate change, vary in: 1) their ability to read information about sea level rise flooding from the map; and 2) their risk perceptions for this flooding. Post-map risk perceptions for Sarasota sea level rise are compared with pre-map risk perceptions for: 1) Sarasota sea level rise; and 2) climate change and sea level rise in general. Results indicate that respondents' read flood information from these maps accurately and in a way that is not biased by prior climate change beliefs. Results for risk perceptions show that while most respondents initially view Sarasota sea level rise as less risky than sea level rise in general, exposure to the sea level rise map raises Sarasota risk perceptions to levels equal to or above those for general sea level rise -- particularly for respondents who are doubtful about climate change or are far from Sarasota, but also for many nearby respondents. These results confirm the potential of interactive maps for communicating sea level rise risk.