Investigating the Impact of Extreme Rainfall Events on Individual Perception of Climate Change

In this paper, we explore the concept of climatic awareness, which refers to the evolution over time of individual perception of climate change. To illustrate this concept, we propose an extension of a mathematical model of awareness based on Markov decision processes, taking into account high-frequency rainfall data recorded in Sicily. We focus on understanding how individuals develop their awareness over time and which are the factors influencing this process. This analysis allows us to introduce the Climate Aware individuals -capable of processing cross-cutting information- and the Climate Susceptible individuals-the majority of the population, more sensitive to external events. We therefore identify customized strategies for policymakers, which can operate mainly on Climate Susceptible individuals, encouraging them to take aware decisions toward sustainable development.