The researchers compared new flood insurance policies purchased after the storm with those renewed in both areas that were actively flooded by the hurricane and areas that weren’t affected. They used Facebook’s Social Connectedness Index as a guide. countermeasure We calculate the probability that two individuals in two locations are connected on Facebook to estimate “social learning” about flooding.
They found that people in areas with stronger social ties to flood-affected areas took out more new flood insurance policies in the three years after Harvey and Irma. The researchers estimate that 250,000 new policies were written in areas where flood emergencies were declared after the hurricanes, and an additional 81,000 new policies were written after the disasters in areas that weren’t flooded — six times the number of new policies as renewals.
“Our evidence of social learning suggests that a short-term localized climate hazard event can stimulate sustained adaptive behavior across social networks for up to three years after the event,” the researchers write. As a result, they suggest that disaster awareness and climate mitigation efforts should take social learning into account, capitalizing on people’s tendency to learn about climate change risks from their friends’ experiences.
Social learning may be particularly important when it comes to climate change. Xu Yilan“These results are a reflection of the current state of the economy,” study co-author and professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign told the news outlet. release.
“For some people, this is a very politically difficult issue,” Xu said. “It may be very difficult to convince others that climate change is real, but seeing friends and family experience its negative effects provides a great opportunity for skeptics to change their minds about climate change.”
Climate researchers predict that flooding may increase as climate change changes. According to the United Nations Development Programme, coastal flooding is increase That’s expected to increase five-fold this century, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Predict Tropical cyclones will “rapidly intensify” over the next few years.
