Climate change perspectives in an Alpine area, Southwest China: a case analysis of local residents' views

This study explores mountain residents' perceptions and knowledge of climate change and its impacts, examines their attitudes and behaviors to adapt to climate change impacts and ecological migration, and analyzes some factors which influenced their perceptions by means of a detailed questionnaires survey of 202 local residents in Mt. Yulong Snow region, Southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Results show that: (1) overall, most local perception of climate change and its impacts correspond with patterns of observed climate change from climate records; (2) residents' perception intensity of climate change shows a highly significant correlation with their age and villages' elevation gradient. By contrast, residents' perception intensity to climate change impacts has a significant correlation with their age, whereas their perception intensity to adapt to climate change impacts highly correlates with villages elevation on the whole; (3) over half of the respondents think that climate change did not affect crop' growing and their yields, but residents hold a favorable opinion to crop insect pests' increasing slightly and crop growth period's extending. Meanwhile, almost all respondents believe that climate change seriously affected mountain tourism economy, their living and spiritual world, and hold a higher recognition attitude; (4) because of persistent drought in recent years, mountain dwellers are forced to adjust industrial structure, develop water-saving agriculture economy, participate actively in mountain tourism, and work outside the home in order to adapt to climate change impacts and make up for meager farm income. Additionally, location residents also expect to get government's compensation and relief for mitigating natural disasters damages.