Perceptions of Climate Change—Related Health Threats among State Park Visitors

Abstract:Public parks provide exposure to mentally restorative green space and a venue for physical activity for nearly every segment of the population. However, some of these places and activities are threatened by impacts from climate change. This study examined local climate change—related health vulnerabilities that are likely to affect park attendance. A mixed methods approach combined data from 18 key informant interviews and a statewide on-site intercept survey of 1,775 visitors to Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites. Our findings revealed areas where visitors perceived health impacts, including heat, vector-borne disease, and storms in state parks, as well as broader global concerns. However, our findings also revealed that visitors had blind spots about actual threats and may react to those that may not be salient. Resource managers can plan for health-related climate-change adaptation by creating educational messages to help visitors protect themselves from the specific health impacts most likely to threaten their well-being while seeking to debunk myths. Park visitors are an important subset of the population for identifying health threats related to climate change and could benefit from interventions based on their beliefs and concerns.