No Country for Old Men. Assessing Socio-Spatial Relationships Between Air Quality Perceptions and Exposures in Southern Chile.

An extensive body of research has been noted that many socially deprived communities tend to live in areas characterized by higher levels of outdoor air pollution. Whilst there is an expanding literature documenting this disproportionate distribution, most previous studies have taken place in the Global North, have focused with industrial or vehicle air pollution sources and have tend to ignore the complex interactions between exposures, public perceptions and social factors. In this paper, we investigate the social vulnerability to and risk perceptions of air pollution sourced from domestic heating in two Chilean cities with particularly high levels of PM2.5 during winter months. To this end, we integrate primary survey data, with geographically detailed estimates of air pollution exposures and area-level characteristics obtained from the Chilean Census. We first examine the spatial distribution of PM2.5 exposures and air quality perceptions, and subsequently explore relationships between socio-demographic characteristics, air pollution exposure, and health concerns. Our results revel evident spatial patterns of dispersion, with some neighborhoods being more polluted than others. Age and percentage of roofs in poor condition in the participant's census tract are the best predictors of PM2.5 exposure. We find no correlation between perceived and real levels of contamination. Our multivariate analysis indicates that personal perceptions of air quality are significantly associated with age, gender, family structure, and heating behaviors. Such detailed depictions provide insights into potential meaningful strategies to improve air quality and highlight the need to incorporate measures to better protect older adults.

Energy poverty influences urban outdoor air pollution levels during COVID-19 lockdown in south-central Chile.

The effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on ambient air pollution levels in urban south-central Chile, where outdoor air pollution primarily originates indoors from wood burning for heating, may differ from trends in cities where transportation and industrial emission sources dominate. This quasi-experimental study compared hourly fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particulate matter measurements from six air monitors (three beta attenuation monitors; three low-cost sensors) in commercial and low/middle-income residential areas of Temuco, Chile between 2019 and 2020. The potential impact of varying annual meterological conditions on air quality was also assessed. During COVID-19 lockdown, average monthly ambient PM2.5 concentrations in a commercial and middle-income residential neighborhood of Temuco were up to 50% higher (from 12 to 18 µg/m3) and 59% higher (from 22 to 35 µg/m3) than 2019 levels, respectively. Conversely, PM2.5 levels decreased by up to 52% (from 43 to 21 µg/m3) in low-income areas. The fine fraction of PM10 in April 2020 was 48% higher than in April 2017-2019 (from 50% to 74%) in a commercial area. These changes did not appear to result from meterological differences between years. During COVID-19 lockdown, higher outdoor PM2.5 pollution from wood heating existed in more affluent areas of Temuco, while PM2.5 concentrations declined among poorer households refraining from wood heating. To reduce air pollution and energy poverty in south-central Chile, affordability of clean heating fuels (e.g. electricity) should be a policy priority.

Understanding human attitudes towards bats and the role of information and aesthetics to boost a positive response as a conservation tool.

An understanding of human attitudes towards wildlife can be an essential element in the success or failure of a conservation initiative, policy or practice and represents one of the main conservation problems for wildlife species. Despite the ecosystem services bats provide, they often are a socially stigmatized group, misperceived and even hunted. This problem has been on the increase as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We examined how aesthetic appeal and informational factors could influence human attitudes towards bats in a survey of 1966 participants from Spanish-speaking countries. Gender, educational level, religiousness and previous experiences with bats were relevant variables to understand attitudes towards them. The results indicate that both aesthetic and informational stimuli increase the positive responses, reducing the negatives on the participants' attitudes. Our results show the importance of public attitudes to achieve conservation goals, especially in the context of human-wildlife conflict. Bats are not charismatic animals and are still surrounded in mystery; however, our findings could benefit bat conservation plans, allowing the development of new communication strategies both locally and nationally and increasing public acceptance that will facilitate bat conservation.

Design and Psychometric Properties of the BAtSS: A New Tool to Assess Attitudes towards Bats.

Despite the benefits that bats offer the ecosystem, these animals are feared and attacked. The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated this situation. Today there is an urgent need to address the human-bat conflict to develop conservation policies. Understanding peoples' attitudes towards bats are critical for this process. This study aimed to design the Bats Attitudes Standard Scale (BAtSS) and to analyze its psychometric properties. We developed an initial version of the scale in which we established the content validity; we analyzed the items and structure in a pilot sample. In the next phase, we examined psychometric properties in a sample of 1639 Chileans. The final BAtSS consists of 34 Likert-type items configured in an oblique-hierarchical structure of four factors (scientistic, positivistic, negativistic, and myths) and three facets (emotional negativistic, behavioral negativistic, and cognitive negativistic). It presents adequate internal consistency, and the analysis of concurrent validity confirms the scale's capacity to discriminate between groups. Women and participants with a lower level of education are more negativistic and less positivistic. People with a higher level of education have a less mythological view of bats. We also analyzed the items under the assumptions of item response theory (IRT).

Out of sight, out of mind: participatory sensing for monitoring indoor air quality.

In southern Chile, epidemiological studies have linked high levels of air pollution produced by the use of wood-burning stoves with the incidence of numerous diseases. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study explores the potential of participatory sensing strategies to transform experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and daily routine activities in 15 households equipped with wood-burning stoves in the city of Temuco, Chile. The results suggest that the experience of using a low-cost sensor improves household members' awareness levels of air pollution. However, the information provided by the sensors does not seem to improve the participants' self-efficacy to control air quality and protect themselves from pollution. The high degree of involvement with the participatory sensing experience indicates that the distribution of low-cost sensors could be a key element in the risk communication policies.

Public engagement on urban air pollution: an exploratory study of two interventions.

The use of portable sensors to measure air quality is a promising approach for the management of urban air quality given its potential to improve public participation in environmental issues and to promote healthy behaviors. However, not all the projects that use air quality mobile sensors consider the potential effects of their use on the attitudes and behaviors of non-expert individuals. This study explores the experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of 12 participants who used a real-time NO2 sensor over a period of 7 days in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and compares them with 16 participants who did not have access to the device but rather to documentary information. The study design is based on recombined focus groups who met at the beginning and end of a 7-day activity. The results suggest that the experience with the sensors, in comparison with the traditional information, generates greater motivation among participants. Also, that the use of the sensor seems to support a more specific awareness of the problem of air pollution. In relation to risk perception, the textual and visual information seems to generate stronger beliefs of severity among participants. In both groups, beliefs of low controllability and self-efficacy are observed. Neither using the sensor nor reading the documentary information seems to contribute positively in this sense. The results of the study aim to contribute to the design of public involvement strategies in urban air pollution.