Cultural knowledge and local vulnerability in African American communities

Abstract

Policymakers need to know what factors are most important in determining local vulnerability to facilitate effective adaptation to climate change. Quantitative vulnerability indices are helpful in this endeavour but are limited in their ability to capture subtle yet important aspects of vulnerability such as social networks, knowledge and access to resources. Working with three African American communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, we systematically elicit local cultural knowledge on climate change and connect it with a scientific vulnerability framework. The results of this study show that: a given social–ecological factor can substantially differ in the way in which it affects local vulnerability, even among communities with similar demographics and climate-related risks; and social and political isolation inhibits access to sources of adaptive capacity, thereby exacerbating local vulnerability. These results show that employing methods for analysing cultural knowledge can yield new insights to complement those generated by quantitative vulnerability indices. Quantitative indices can only partially help in understanding vulnerability to climate change impacts. Research shows that eliciting cultural knowledge yields important insights into how social–ecological factors affect communities’ vulnerability.

Cite this article

Miller Hesed, C., Paolisso, M. Cultural knowledge and local vulnerability in African American communities. Nature Clim Change 5, 683–687 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2668

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