EXPLORING RISK PERCEPTION TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE GENERAL POPULATION

Abstract

Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and the world that we live in, and has been undeniably representing a great challenge of this age. The qualitative study was conducted to explore the risks that the general people perceive related to climate change using Interpretative Phenomenological analysis (IPA). A sample of 7 people from the general Pakistani population from Lahore, of ages ranging from 22-43 years, were targeted, and the data was collected using semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed one master theme, three superordinate themes, and subordinate themes, where the master theme was climate change risk perception. In contrast, the superordinate themes included perception of climate change, temporal immediacy, and spatial risk perception associated with climate change. The study helps to understand the risk perception associated with climate change in a cultural context.