People's Perception on Climate Change and Variability: A Study of Sabrang Union, Teknaf, Cox'sbazar, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is considered worldwide as one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change. This is due to its unique geographic location, dominance of floodplains, and low elevation of land from the sea, high density of population, high levels of poverty, and overwhelming dependence on nature, its resources and services. The coastal areas, especially offshore islands are most vulnerable considering the impacts of climate change and variability. Adaptation and mitigation strategies and action measures are to be taken at government and policy level of Bangladesh to combat future threats of climate change. Before taking these types of initiatives, it is needed to know the knowledge and concepts, capacity and strength, and awareness level of the coastal community. The objectives of this study are to assess the people's perceptions and understanding on climate change among adult and juvenile age groups of the community people; and to evaluate the awareness level of them on the impacts of climate change in the study area. Study area has been selected from the eastern coast of Bangladesh. The methods followed for the research were literature review, key informant interviews with representatives from local government and stakeholders, questionnaire survey with local adult and juvenile people. The study revealed that a significant portion of the society was not aware enough regarding the impacts of climate change and variability; and has hazy knowledge about the climate change and sea level rise of their adjacent coast. But, they have been observing the extreme events of weather like cyclones and storm surges, coastal erosion, and the changes of sea surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]