Indigenous perceptions of climate anomalies in Malaysian Borneo

Abstract

Local perceptions of climate anomalies influence adaptation behaviour. Specifically, perceptions that are more accurate and homogenous at the community-level are more likely to facilitate the collective action required to adapt to the local effects of climate anomalies experienced by many indigenous communities. We combine primary data on perceptions of climate anomalies from 200 individuals in six Penan villages in Sarawak, Malaysia with instrumental climate data. We find that perceptions of climate anomalies vary substantially in terms of occurrence and magnitude, and do not generally correlate with instrumental climate data.

Description

Keywords

Climate change, Climate anomalies, Indigenous communities, Perceptions, Adaptation, Sarawak

Citation

van Gevelt, T., Abok, H., Bennett, M. M., Fam, S. D., George, F., Kulathuramaiyer, N., ... & Zaman, T. (2019). Indigenous perceptions of climate anomalies in Malaysian Borneo. Global Environmental Change, 58, 101974.

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