Perception, Knowledge, and Behavior towards Climate Change: A Survey among Agricultural Professionals in Hamadan Province, Iran

The purpose of this study was to evaluate perception towards climate change, level of knowledge and climate change related behavior of agricultural professionals in Hamadan Province, Iran. The statistical population of the study consisted of 360 agricultural professionals and, by using Cochran formula, sample size was determined as 121 people, who were chosen via a simple random sampling method. Data was gathered using a structured questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed through a panel of experts and its reliability was estimated using Cronbach Alpha coefficient (above 0.70). The results revealed that mean age of sample study was almost 45 years and more than half of them had MSc. and PhD. degrees. Also, results showed that 91.7% of the respondents had strong perception, and about half of the respondents had high knowledge of climate change. While a great majority (78.5%) of the respondents was willing to join the practical efforts to mitigate effects of climate change, about one-fourth indicated they were willing to sacrifice some individual benefit to solve existing problems. The results indicated a significant (P< 1%) difference between 3 major job groups, i.e. managers, faculty members, and experts, regarding climate change related behavior. Also, correlation analysis confirmed that education level, knowledge of climate change, and perception of climate change had a significant relation with climate change related behavior.