What is Sea-Level Rise?
Dr. Avenarius presented her work on the human dimensions of climate change on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula. The focus of the project is to understand why people do what they do with respect to climate change implications and the specific characteristics and location of the population located on the peninsula. The study found that while scientific insights about climate change and sea-level rise are widely available, local communities are still reluctant to address the issues they are facing related to climate change. The driving factors behind this reluctance are the polarization of opinions on the current state of the environment and remedies for coastal management as well was their deep distrust in the objectivity of science. From this point a better understanding of how information flows through the community and what resources are trusted as well as strategies for merging economic sustainability with the preservation of natural resources are necessary for the overall conservation of the peninsula.