Grassland farmers’ attitudes toward climate change in the North German Plain

Abstract

The impact of climate change on a variety of scales and on land-use policies across sectors is well-established. There will be climate-related changes to which land use must adapt, although Europe and Germany may not be as affected as other regions. Therefore, we must evaluate how climate change is perceived on a regional scale and across land-use sectors. The aim of this study is to gather information from regional land-use experts regarding their perceptions of climate change to highlight the impact of climate change on land use and to identify the risks and opportunities associated with climate change that these experts observe. With these objectives in mind, we conducted 60 semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with regional land-use experts in agriculture, forestry, and water management in four case study regions in the North German Plain. Climate change is clearly acknowledged by the experts throughout the regions and across the sectors. Drought (particularly in the spring) and increased occurrences of extreme weather events are the most severe regional issues identified. Furthermore, with very few exceptions, climate change is mostly understood as a risk. The results of this study confirm the results from other models and prognoses but with more detail and precision at the regional level. Differences among the sectors and regions were also noted. Unlike most studies, the regional experts in our sample have already noted the impacts and risks of climate change cross-sectorally, which might be a good basis from which to begin regional adaptation.

Who Framed Climate Change? Identifying the How and Why of Iowa Corn Farmers’ Framing of Climate Change

“…For instance, Eggers et al . () find 67 per cent of German farmers at least partially agree that climate change had an influence on their agricultural production; indicating they likely believe climate change is occurring.…”

“…This includes: Germany (67 per cent) (Eggers et al . ), Australia (68 per cent) and regions of New Zealand (51–53 per cent) (Prokopy et al 2015); Scotland (58 per cent) (Barnes and Toma ), and states throughout the USA (Gramig et al . ; Niles et al .…”

Modelling regional variability of irrigation requirements due to climate change in Northern Germany

“…The RCP 8.5 scenario estimates an increase of the global mean screen temperature of approximately 5.3°C in the time period 1850-2090. Considering the RCP 8.5 scenario was a joint decision of the NaLaMa-nT consortium (Albert et al, 2015;Eggers et al, 2015).…”

Farmers’ perceptions of climate change: identifying types

“…Eggers et al (2014) found that North German grassland farmers could be grouped into four types based on their perceptions of the issue. The research, which focuses on adaptation measures on ley and permanent grassland, postulates that farmers consider adaptation on economic factors or emotional reasoning.…”

“…Conversely, other groupings did not perceive climate change as a significant enough threat to change their future management planning. Whereas these studies have focused on farmer types in other sectors, or on one aspect of adaptation or mitigation (Eggers et al 2014;Bruce 2013), there is a specific need to investigate beef and sheep farmers' perceptions of climate change in temperate regions. Such analyses are important in light of the considerable attention bestowed on the red meat sectors' contribution towards climate change; therein, assisting the industry's aspirations in reducing emissions.…”