{"title":"Is Australia's urban-regional schism on climate reality or rhetoric?","authors":"R.M. Colvin , Frank Jotzo , Kelly S. Fielding","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103446","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research and popular discourse have not settled on whether there exists an urban-regional divide on climate. In Australia, we observe rhetoric in the public sphere suggesting such a divide. In this paper we examine whether the urban-regional schism on climate reflects the reality of Australians' opinions on climate change. We conducted a quota survey of the Australian population (N = 2,952) and measured opinion across seven climate and seven social issues. We found limited evidence of an urban-regional divide on climate change and most social issues. However, urban and regional Australians’ attitudes differed on one item: perception of difference between urban and regional people. We suggest that urban-regional divide rhetoric may appeal to rural <em>identifying</em> people, not regional residents per se. We also identified the role of media habits: consumption of ABC (the national broadcaster) or Sky News (News Corp subscription channel) are significant predictors of climate opinion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103446"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Rural Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074301672400250X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Research and popular discourse have not settled on whether there exists an urban-regional divide on climate. In Australia, we observe rhetoric in the public sphere suggesting such a divide. In this paper we examine whether the urban-regional schism on climate reflects the reality of Australians' opinions on climate change. We conducted a quota survey of the Australian population (N = 2,952) and measured opinion across seven climate and seven social issues. We found limited evidence of an urban-regional divide on climate change and most social issues. However, urban and regional Australians’ attitudes differed on one item: perception of difference between urban and regional people. We suggest that urban-regional divide rhetoric may appeal to rural identifying people, not regional residents per se. We also identified the role of media habits: consumption of ABC (the national broadcaster) or Sky News (News Corp subscription channel) are significant predictors of climate opinion.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Rural Studies publishes research articles relating to such rural issues as society, demography, housing, employment, transport, services, land-use, recreation, agriculture and conservation. The focus is on those areas encompassing extensive land-use, with small-scale and diffuse settlement patterns and communities linked into the surrounding landscape and milieux. Particular emphasis will be given to aspects of planning policy and management. The journal is international and interdisciplinary in scope and content.