New research provides a rare glimpse into the climate behaviors of Mississippi River Basin residents and the relationship they have — or don't have — with one of the world's most important rivers.
The study, released on October 23was conducted by a team of researchers led by Assistant Professor Kate Rose at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, also home to Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. They surveyed more than 2,300 adult residents from the 10 states bordering the Mississippi River, seeking to better understand what people know about environmental issues in the basin.
Only about half of those surveyed knew their condition was in the pelvis. In Kentucky only 7.5% of respondents believed they lived in the basin, even though it includes the entire state.
Maisah Khan, director of policy for the Mississippi River Network, said she begins each presentation by showing a map of the basin — pointing out the headwaters and the Gulf, explaining the extent of the tributaries that drain. If people don't know they're in the watershed, he said, they can't understand that what happens in their part of the river will affect what happens downstream.
The research highlights the need for scientists and river advocates to better communicate what is happening to the Mississippi, which is essential for wildlife habitat, drinking water and global commerce.
“We know that some basic knowledge is missing. … But it's important that people in those states know a little bit more about those issues that affect their daily lives,” Rose said.
Even when people notice, they may not feel empowered to do much.
Khan said that as the effects of climate change become clearer, such as extreme weather, people are starting to worry but don't feel like they have much control.
“This is really worrying,” Khan said. “It's easy to feel hopeless.”
But the study also showed support for policy reform and other solutions to address the basin's environmental issues.
Most people believe that climate change is happening
Almost 70% of all survey respondents said they believed climate change was happening, with the remainder split evenly between those who didn't know and those who didn't believe it was happening.
They were more divided about the factors behind climate change and how much scientific consensus there is to support it.
The data is particularly noteworthy given that more than 99% of scientists agree that climate change is happening and is largely caused by humans.
Just over half of the respondents said that human activities mainly cause climate change, while about 40% said that climate change is mainly caused by natural changes in the environment. Almost 70% said most scientists agree that climate change is happening, but in separate questions, 25% said “there is a lot of disagreement” among scientists and that “there is not enough scientific evidence” to establish that it is happening.
These results match the latest national data from Yale University Climate Research, which last asked American adults in 2021 about their feelings on the issue. Of these results, 72% of respondents said global warming is happening and 57% believed it was caused by human activities.
The majority of respondents in the basin, 70%, felt a religious motivation to care – saying they felt they had a responsibility to care for nature as God's stewards.
People who are concerned about the environment support solutions
Almost 60% of respondents said their situation is affected by changes in the environment and more than half said environmental changes affect their local community. Almost half said they have personally experienced adverse impacts as a result of these changes, such as an increase in extreme weather events.
This is evident even in recent years in the Mississippi River basin, which has seen periods of intense flooding, drought and excessive heat.
“If you asked (about environmental changes) 20 years ago, it (would) be really different,” said Dominique Brossard, chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who reviewed a summary of the study's findings.
“I think it's very promising that people are realizing that there are environmental issues that affect their area as a whole,” he added.
In nine of the 10 states bordering the river, more than half were concerned about the health effects of environmental changes, with the most concerns in Illinois and Louisiana (about 59% and 58%, respectively). In Arkansas, about 45% of respondents were concerned about health effects.
Younger respondents were more likely to report being worried than older respondents. Overall, most respondents were concerned about extreme weather, with 88% citing it as at least somewhat of a problem, followed by pollution, flooding and water quality.
Respondents overwhelmingly supported policies to protect drinking water and the environment, and a majority supported federal water policies to protect the river. Most said they were willing to support environmental initiatives at the local and state and federal levels.
One such initiative recently proposed is the creation of a multi-state compact to garner federal support for environmental issues in the river basin, similar to the interstate compact that protects the Great Lakes. More than half of respondents said they would support such a deal for the river.
The study also asked about agricultural practices and how they affect the landscape. The majority of respondents, 64%, agreed that managing environmental issues on agricultural land is a high priority. About 30% said current farming practices are more harmful to the environment than good, while about a quarter disagreed with this statement.
Respondents largely supported sustainable farming practices such as grass-fed livestock operations and organic farming, but also endorsed traditional farming practices such as grass-fed farming.
Will to action, resistance to personal responsibility
Almost half of respondents said they would be willing to change personal behaviors to combat environmental change, such as recycling more or driving less. Their willingness fell when the proposed actions would have a greater impact on their wallet.
When it came to who was responsible for environmental issues affecting their districts, more than half of respondents said that society as a whole bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility, compared to about 24% of respondents who felt that they personally had a moderate or big responsibility. . Nearly 60% said environmental issues require systemic solutions, and about half said individual actions could have a big impact on mitigating environmental degradation.
Getting people to care about and take action on climate change and environmental issues relies on connecting these broader issues to what's happening in people's everyday lives — as Rose puts it, “bringing the local.”
“It's increasingly difficult to get people to take advocacy actions that don't have a direct connection to their daily lives or a direct local connection,” Khan said.
Linking climate change to health impacts, for example, can be an effective way to get people to pay attention, Brossard said. In Khan's case, her organization has realized that talking about the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't get people to care about what's going on in the Mississippi River. So they've turned to discussing how these same pollutants are causing beach closures and algae blooms.
And while Khan said social and individual actions could work together to make the biggest impact, she and Brossard agreed that systemic and policy changes could make a bigger dent in the problem.
This story is his product Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Deskan independent reporting network based in University of Missouri in cooperation with Report on America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. Investigate Midwest is a member.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
