A review of research on phenomenological experiences relating to climate and environmental change

Abstract

Cities globally have increasingly fallen victim to the impacts of the changing climate and environment, ranging from flooding events to pollution and extreme heat waves. Traditionally, research has investigated climate and environmental change from a quantitative angle. However, there has been growing interest in understanding the lived experiences of affected individuals to complement findings from quantitative studies and support more transformative research outcomes. Therefore, the objectives of this review are to (1) summarise prevalent trends and conclusions noted within this current body of research, (2) compare findings observed across different cities and communities globally, and (3) identify gaps to provide directions for future studies. This review examines journal articles published within the last 15 years that focus on documenting local communities’ lived experiences and narratives associated with climate or environmental change. Searches are performed across the Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases using the keywords “environmental change”, “lived experiences”, “narratives”, “climate change”, “environmental change”, “heat”, “flooding” and “pollution”. A preliminary review of relevant articles suggests that experiences with changing climate and environment can influence the everyday lives of communities in damaging ways, with health concerns emerging as a key threat. Moreover, studies also recognise the pervasive inequity in climate and environmental change impacts, with vulnerable and marginalised populations often finding themselves disproportionately burdened by the negative impacts. Overall, future research can expand into (1) a greater incorporation of participatory action research methods and (2) a more diverse exploration of populations’ lived experiences with different extreme weather events.