Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter discusses the prior research literature and studies. This will provide

background information as well as current issues concerning the research topic. It will

also add to the foundational concepts established in this study.

Related Literature

Foreign

Climate change is one of today's most pressing issues, having significantly

reshaped or is in the process of altering the earth's ecosystems. Although climate

change has been a constant process on Earth, the rate of variation has increased

dramatically in the last 100 years or so. Since the nineteenth century, the average

temperature has risen by 0.9 °C due to anthropogenic activities, primarily due to

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere (Arora, 2019).

Existing evidence suggests that climate change beliefs have increased over time,

with mixed evidence indicating that younger people have more climate change beliefs

than older people. This raises the question of whether the evolution of climate change

beliefs is a developmental process or a cohort effect. On the one hand, there may be an

ageing effect that corresponds to the stated negative association between age and

climate change beliefs, such that as people age, they believe less in climate change. On

the other hand, perhaps people of all ages are increasing their belief in climate change;

it's just that older people start at a lower level (Milfont et al., 2021).
 Subsequently, there is a strong link between media attention and shifts in poll

trends, and educational attainment is the single most powerful predictor of climate

change awareness. Other studies have linked socio-demographic factors such as age,

gender, and education, wealth, well-being, access to information, and civic engagement

to climate change (van der Linden, 2017). In global contexts, climate change

vulnerability surveys typically investigate resource dependency, poverty

(socioeconomic, i.e. status, access to information and resources, and material assets),

education, income, occupation, gender, age, spatial location influencing exposure, and

how one's individual concept of place informs belonging.

Local

In terms of income and employment, the Philippines' fisheries contribute

significantly to the national economy. Total fish production was estimated at 4.65 million

metric tons in 2015, with the fisheries sector contributing nearly $4.33 billion to the

country's economy (BFAR, 2016). In 2015, the fisheries sector employed an estimated

1.6 million people across the country, contributing 1.5% to GDP (BFAR, 2016; PSA,

2017a). According to an FAO report, the Philippines ranked eighth in the world in fish

production in 2014, and it is a critical economic sector for the country (BFAR, 2016).

Climate change is already taking place. Evidence suggests that the change

cannot be explained solely by natural variation. The most recent scientific assessments

have confirmed that the observed warming of the climate system since the mid-20th

century is most likely due to human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and

land use change. Current warming is posing significant challenges to man and the
environment, and will continue to do so in the future. Some autonomous adaptation is

currently taking place, but in order to ensure sustainable development, we must

consider more proactive adaptation planning ("Climate Change in the Philippines",

2022).

In the 2017 World Risk Report, the Philippines is the third most vulnerable

country to climate change. Climate change has had enormous consequences in the

Philippines, including annual GDP losses, changes in rainfall patterns and distribution,

droughts, threats to biodiversity and food security, sea level rise, public health risks, and

endangering vulnerable groups such as women and indigenous people. Approximately

1 million hectares of grasslands in the Philippines are extremely vulnerable to future

climate change. Most grasslands in the uplands are prone to fire, especially during long

periods of dryness and lack of rainfall during the summer (“Climate Change Impacts”,

2022).

Related Studies

Foreign

Household preparedness levels and risk perception have been studied in

Southeast Asia. One study, conducted in Hong Kong shortly after Typhoon Mangkhut,

discovered that higher education levels, higher risk perception, more routine

preparedness measures, and previous experience were all positively associated with

disaster preparedness participation (Chan et al., 2019). Another well-documented factor

thought to influence disaster preparedness is risk perception.

 Formal education is important in promoting preparedness actions, but only for

"households that have never been affected by a disaster in the past." Non-formal

education, such as disaster training and drills, has also been linked to increased

resilience. As a result, living in a more educated community significantly increases the

implementation of preparedness activities (Hoffmann and Muttarak, 2017).

Increased understanding of climate change and documentation of its observable

effects have resulted in the development of climate change adaptation responses all

over the world. Assessment of outcomes and impact is a necessary but often

overlooked component of adaptation. The act of cataloging adaptation activities yields

insights for current and future climate action in two areas: understanding common

characteristics of adaptation initiatives reported to be effective in the current literature

and identifying gaps in adaptation research and practice that address equality, justice,

and power dynamics (Owen, 2020).

In the study of Agboola & Emmanuel (2016), they highlighted that climate change

education should be organized and encapsulated in school curricula at all levels, and

public and stakeholder training, re-training, empowerment, or enlightenment in climate

change should be carried out without bias, discrimination, or marginalization of any kind.

This is coherent with their research findings that undergraduates have a high level of

awareness about climate change, have access to information sources, and personal

experience, public sources, and education all have a large influence on their

awareness.

Local
 Climate change impacts on marine capture fisheries in the Philippines are

expected to result in a 9% decrease in fisheries GDP under the mitigation scenario and

an 18% decrease under the extreme scenario up to 2060, compared to the baseline

scenario. In the Philippine economy, this impact reduces income by up to 0.36% for

urban households and 0.38% for rural households. Furthermore, the urban-rural income

disparity widens because rural households suffer slightly greater losses than urban

households (Suh & Pomeroy, 2020).

Climate change is one of the underlying causes of a decrease in production in

the marine capture fisheries sector, and the impact of climate change on the marine

capture fisheries sector is significant because production accounts for a large portion of

the economy. Rounds cad, big-eyed scads, anchovy, Indian oil sardines, Indian

mackerel, threadfin bream, and tuna species currently dominate marine capture in the

Philippines (PSA, 2017a). With warmer water and less oxygen available, tuna species in

the Philippines (frigate tuna, eastern little tuna, yellowfin tuna, skipjack, and bigeye

tuna), which account for 28% of the catch (PSA, 2017a), are expected to decline due to

a lack of microscopic plants and animals that are essential components of tuna food

webs (Vousden, 2018).

However, Filipinos self-report relatively low levels of climate change knowledge,

citing increased temperatures, seasonal shifts, and heavier rains as the most likely

consequences. Disaster preparedness levels in the Philippines vary greatly by region.

Although most Filipinos believe that natural disasters pose a risk to them, only one-third

of Filipinos take precautionary measures (Bolletino et al., 2020).

Synthesis

Through the literature and studies presented, it is evident how climate change

has affected the environment. And it is urgent to device livelihood adaptation strategies

that will help mitigate its impact to the economy. However, this will only possible with

maximum collaboration between the government and the people. And prior to

collaboration of the people, it is necessary to gauge what they know about climate

change. Because their awareness will serve as the baseline in crafting programs and

policies. It was emphasized the readings that awareness will play a great role in this

fight against climate change which the humans made themselves. Given how education

greatly matters, it is significant that everyone has the access to information. And that’s

when widespread campaigns shall be conducted. Studies prove that with people being

aware of the situation regarding climate change, their negating attitude towards

following policies towards this issue will be deduced. Instead, they will also impart

solutions to this problem knowing that they are greatly affected.