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Title: Spatial Optimism and Cross-Over Effects in the Perceptions of Interconnected Wildfire, Flood, and Mudslide Hazards
Communities near the wildland urban interface (WUI) are exposed to a mix of three interconnected hazards (wildfire, flood, and mudslide), and understanding multi-hazard perceptions is critically important for emergency preparation and hazard mitigation—particularly given the WUI’s rapid expansion and intensifying environmental hazards. Based on a survey of residents living near recent burn scars in Southern California, we document cross-over effects in hazard perceptions, where resident experience with one hazard was associated with greater hazard rankings for other hazards. Additionally, for all three hazards analyzed we document perceptions of increasing hazard levels with increasing spatial scales (home, near-home, neighborhood, and community), providing evidence of spatial optimism, or the tendency to discount proximate hazards. This study stresses the importance of using a multi-hazard and multi-scale approach for understanding and responding to local level environmental hazards.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2031535
PAR ID:
10640453
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Sage Publishing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Environment and Behavior
Volume:
56
Issue:
1-2
ISSN:
0013-9165
Page Range / eLocation ID:
19 to 58
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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