Awareness of climate change: differences among Russian regions

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the Russian Federation with vulnerable permafrost areas and large forested areas as elsewhere, climate change affects the lives of citizens. Action depends on levels of awareness, a latent variable, calculated by means of a multiple-indicator-multiple-causes (MIMIC) model and indicators derived from regional search entries in Yandex®. The results show that climate change awareness increases with gross regional product per capita, decreases from east to west, and declines and varies seasonally with increasing average temperature. The United Nations Climate Change Conference affected awareness positively, but the devaluation of the Russian rouble in 2014–15 had no measurable impact.