Wildfire Prevention Actions Not Linked To Climate Change Beliefs

People who believe that climate change is increasing the risk of devastating wildfires in Colorado are not more likely to take extreme measures to protect their property, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the U.S. Forest Service.

The study examined the role that climate change beliefs has on a homeowner's choice to engage in extreme activities such as installing a fire-resistant roof to reduce the ignitability of their home or thinning surrounding vegetation that could act as a potential fuel source, the researchers revealed in a news release.

In the study, respondents were categorized on a scale of "believer" to "skeptic" based on their attitudes regarding how climate change affects wildfire risk in Colorado. More than half of the respondents agreed that climate change was responsible for the increased wildfire risk in the state. Those respondents were not necessarily more likely to take action on their private property to mitigate potential damage from future blazes, according to the researchers.

In the study, the researchers found that there was a correlation between climate change denial and risk mitigation actions.

"A small but distinct portion of respondents who reject climate science as a 'hoax' are also the ones who reported doing significantly more risk mitigation activities than other respondents," said Hannah Brenkert-Smith, the study's lead author and research associate in the Institute of Behavioral Sciences at Colorado University -Boulder.

The study found that attitudes and actions related to climate change and risk mitigation are more subtle, compared to how they are portrayed on the media. The researchers claimed that focusing on locally relevant hazards could be more useful in educating and galvanizing residents in fire-prone areas of Colorado.

"The conventional wisdom that a belief about climate change is a prerequisite for mitigating local climate change impacts was not found in this analysis," said Patricia Champ, co-author of the study,  U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station.

"This was a bit of a surprise."

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