Dynamics of place attachment in a climate changed world

Change—both to climate and to place attachment—is central to this chapter. Climate change is causing significant environmental impacts across the globe as evidenced by melting sea-ice, rising sea levels, coastal flooding, and an increase in extreme weather events. These are, in turn, causing significant changes to the fabric of the places where people live, work, and take leisure, and consequently to the emotional attachments associated with such places. Similarly, human responses to these changes often alter the fabric and meaning of places, for example, through the construction of coastal defenses. Yet our understanding of how place attachments may be affected by climatic changes, or how they may inform an understanding of human responses to such changes remains in its infancy. This chapter critically reviews the ways in which the dynamics of place attachments have been theorized and empirically researched in the literature. Second, it discusses the application of this body of knowledge about place attachment to the subject of climate change, encompassing both mitigation and adaptation.