John O'Loughlin
Professor, Department of Geography
University of Colorado Boulder
Sarah Posner
PhD Student of Geography
University of Colorado Boulder
October 29, 2021
GUGG 205, 3:30 PM
Abstract:
The extent of climate change effects on the potential for violence is uncertain. Research has focused on poor countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa but the mechanisms that might connect climate change to conflict or to cooperation are poorly understood. Our field study in Isiolo and Meru counties in northern Kenya examines the experiences of a panel of 500 respondents in multiple waves across the seasons through an initial face-to-face contact survey and four follow-up telephone surveys. The past 20 months of the project have been a time of additional challenges from Covid-19 and from locust swarms in addition to environmental hazards of floods and drought. Survey data on food security, inter-ethnic attitudes, NGO and government aid, household adaptations, Covid and locust experiences, and weather perceptions and support for violence after three waves show a picture that is much more complex than the usual portrayal of the climate-violence link in the media and in US government documents.
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