Perceptions of wildfire and climate change in the Western U.S.

Media studies have started to investigate how the public comprehend wildfire disasters and how to communicate the risk of wildfire to the public effectively in the context of global climate change. This survey project explores 1) perceptions of wildfire smoke exposure among the residents in the western U.S. 2) It also systematically measures how the public’s personal experience with wildfire disasters associates with their mitigation behavioral intentions toward climate change via emotional and psychological processes.

Methods
Only US adults who age 18 and older were recruited as participants. First, quotas for gender, age, race/ethnicity, region, and political orientation were utilized to ensure a diverse US sample that had characteristics similar to US census data. Then, only participants from the 12 western states (i.e., fire-prone regions) were included as participants. Such states included: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Researchers hired Qualtrics, a survey company, for the data collection, and the screening was conducted by Qualtrics project manager.