Investigation of awareness level of climate change: The case of Kırşehir

Abstract

Climate change is one of the biggest global environmental problems faced by mankind in recent times. Therefore, determining the knowledge and awareness levels of individuals on this issue is very important in terms of contributing to the solutions to be developed in the fight against climate change at the local level. In this study, it is aimed to determine the approaches, consciousness and awareness levels of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University students and local people about climate change in Kırşehir. The main material of the research consisted of primary data obtained from 250 face-to-face surveys applied to students and the public. Related literatures are also secondary data. The survey questions include questions about the individual characteristics of the person (gender, age, education level, job), climate change awareness level, and the effects of climate change on agriculture and water resources. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 statistical package program. In the evaluation of the data, descriptive statistics, frequency tables and graphical representations were used. As a result of the analyzes performed using the Kruskall-Wallis test, it is seen that there are statistically significant differences between the education groups in the variables of climate change awareness level and climate change risk perception level (P<0.05). Accordingly, it was observed that as the level of education increased, there was an increase in awareness and risk perception levels. In addition, as a result of the analyzes performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the occupational groups in the level of climate change awareness (P>0.05), and there was a statistically significant difference between the occupational group averages in the climate change risk perception level (P<0.05).