Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations insolar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant causes of recent climate change, often referred to as “global warming” (Carley, 2013). There are a number of risk perceptions that are associated with climate change. The essay has used two peer review articles to address the environmental risk perception concerning climate change. It will make a brief summary of the two articles. It will then compare and contrast the risk perceptions that are associated with climate change from the two articles. There will be an identification of the environmental stressors on climate change. Finally, there will be a conclusion based on my own perception concerning the issue.

The first article talks about the genesis of climate change activism in the United States of America. The author has given a number of movements that have been established on the subject of climate change. There have been protests against environmental matters that are believed to be affecting the climate negatively. Environmental activists have protested against the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and have also held anti-coal campaigns to shut down proposed and existing coal-fired power plants. Religion has also played a part in the climate change activism. More than 10,000 congregations formed the Interfaith Power and Light to lead faith communities in climate change activism. Students in universities are also forming movements and advocating people to stop using fossil fuels (Roser-Renouf & Edward, 2013). The congress, however, has a different and a much more conservative approach concerning climate change. It has used a dismissive approach to matters concerning the perceived threats of climate change.

The research documented by the article has made a list of perceptions that climate activists have. They believe that climate change and global warming is caused by human and that it is real. They look at it as a serious threat that can cause an end to the existence of humanity. They also believe that the issue of global warming is solvable and their efforts and activism practices can make a huge difference and bring positive change to the deteriorating climate conditions. Finally, they have strong considerations about their beliefs and consider themselves to be opinion leaders (Roser-Renouf & Edward, 2013).

The author advocates that climate change activism should be coupled with recommendation messages that people can use to curb the issues of climate change. The activists should not be complacent and accept the fact that there is very low political participation. They should advise all potential advocates about the threats that are associated with climate change and bring them to the fore in form of political activism as far as climate change and global warming is concerned. The author believes that political activism will have a relatively greater impact on matters concerning climate change than the current form of activism (Roser-Renouf & Edward, 2013).

The second article talks about the relationship between personal experience and belief in the reality of global warming. The article seeks to address the alternative explanations between the belief that global warming is taking place and the actual personal experience. The author tries to answer the question whether the subject of global warming is based on actual observable weather patterns or prior belief that has created an impact on how people view the issues of climate change (Myers, Maibach, Roser et al, 2012). The research that forms the basis of the article is done on a sample representative of Americans. The research was conducted in two phases that is on 2008 and 2011. The findings of the research documented that personal experience of climate change accentuated one’s belief that global warming is happening. The process has been referred to as ‘experiential learning’. Others just have a strong belief that global warming is taking place based on their own personal perceptions. The process has been referred to as ‘motivated reasoning’. The individuals’ personal engagements with the issue of climate change influenced how they viewed the subject of global warming. The process of experiential learning was noted more in people who have low engagement and the process of motivated reasoning was noted in individuals who have a relatively higher engagement in the matters surrounding global warming. An engagement level was incorporated as a factor since only 25% of adult Americans have high engagement on the issues concerning global warming (Myers, Maibach, Roser et al, 2012).

There are a number of risk perceptions that have been noted by the two articles. A risk perception refers to the subjective judgment that people make about the characteristics and severity of a particular risk (Carley, 2013). The articles show that Americans view global warming and the subject of climate change a moderate risk. There is strong belief that global warming will have an impact on the general environmental standards that the world is accustomed to. Some of the effects include water shortages, diseases and a deteriorated standard of living. The concern about global warming is driven by the concern of the dangers that it might cause to the public. Most of the people believe that the impact will be more severe on non-human nature. Relatively, less environmental activists have more concern on the severity that climate change might have to non-human nature more than them. That fact contributes to the low priority that people and organizations have given the subject of global warming. However, others belief that the issue is natural and is not as extreme as the media portrays it. There is no scientific proof that it exists and it makes people more skeptical. Many have also denied the problem flatly and others have even termed it as another conspiracy theory.

Each environmental risk has environmental stressors. There are a number of environmental stressors related to climate change. Environmental stressors refer to the strain that the environment is usually subjected to due to human activities (Carley, 2013). Pollution is the major environmental stressor related to climate change and global warming in general. The world depends greatly on fossil fuels for running automobiles and for manufacturing processes in industries. The burning of these fuels emits gases that are believed to be depleting the ozone layer. It is one of the common stressor that is related to global warming. The increase in population is another factor that has contributed to global warming (Carley, 2013). It is closely connected to the use of fossil fuels. As the global population grows, the use of fossil fuels also increases. During the course of the 20th Century, the global population rose from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion. Global warming has therefore been accelerated.

In conclusion, I believe that many people are aware of the subject of global warming. However, more scientific research and contribution should be done over the matter to remove the doubts and assumptions that people have. It will help arrest the matter and put reasonable measures that will ensure it is not an issue that will threaten the existence of the human race.

References

Carley, G. (2013). Environmental Psychology. Salt Creek; S.G.C Publishers.

Myers, T., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Akerlof, K., & Leiserowitz, A. (2012). The     relationship between personal experience and belief in the reality of global warming.     Nature Climate Change. Vol 10. (3) 1038/nclimate1754 – See more at:     http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/article/the-relationship-between-   personal-experience-and-belief-in-global-warming#sthash.xUrjIbZb.dpuf

Roser-Renouf C. & Edward W. (2013). The Genesis of Climate Change Activism. Climatic     Change. Vol. 6 (125); pp. 163-178. Available at     http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-014-1173-5

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