Postdoctoral Associate Jackson Institute for Global Affairs Michelle L. Bell Research Lab Yale University
Globally, climate change (CC) has emerged as potentially THE GREATEST existential threat to our environment and collective health. While accounting for less than 1% of the world’s GHG emissions, few regions have experienced the effects of CC more than the Caribbean. Faced with elevated risks of increasingly intense storms, higher incidence of vector-borne diseases, more prolonged droughts and less food security, the places and peoples of the Caribbean are charged with building resilience. This charge is often unjust given (a) the absence of resources from the more developed nations whose individuals and industries have higher carbon footprints and (b) lack of support from local governments. My colleagues and I attempt to qualitatively and quantitatively assess vulnerability and/or adaptive capacity of Eastern Caribbean residents as they engage new extremes and prepare for the unprecedented. Weighing the factors of knowledge and behavior against circumstance, this research breaks down how much predispositions to CC impacts are within the control of regular citizens, what agency they have if any.
whittaker_steve_yale_natasha_conference_20191115b.pdf
