Public risk salience of sea level rise in Louisiana, United States

Understanding public perceptions of sea level rise (SLR) is essential for effective risk communication in coastal areas. Using cross-sectional data from a representative survey of 1042 Louisiana residents, we measured the role of sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education, income, race, and political affiliation), contextual factors (distance to coast, geographic vulnerability, perceived extreme weather, home ownership, and presence of children in the household), media measures (local television, local newspaper, and satisfaction with media coverage), and perceived causes of coastal land loss (natural erosion from waves, hurricane activity, oil and gas industry activity, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activity) on SLR risk salience. Ordinal logistic analysis showed perceived extreme weather and geographic vulnerability to be strong and positive predictors of SLR risk salience. Implications for risk communication are discussed.