Wednesday, October 05, 2016

Climate Change: "What, me worry?"

The results are in: On average, Americans just shrug their shoulders about global climate change, according to a Pew Research Center Survey. Only about a third of adults care a great deal about climate change, and fewer than half believe global warming is mostly due to human activity. The Pew survey also reveals the origin of this "What, me worry?" attitude—the country is of two minds when it comes to climate change. Republicans are highly skeptical and Democrats are deeply worried. Average those extremes, and it looks like Americans don't care much about the issue...

Attitudes of Americans toward global climate change
36 percent say they care a great deal about the issue of climate change
38 percent think people reducing their carbon footprint will make a big difference
41 percent think climate change is very likely to cause sea levels to rise and erode shore lines
42 percent think climate change is very likely to make storms more severe
48 percent think Earth is warming mostly due to human activity
49 percent think international agreements to limit carbon emissions will make a big difference

Source: Pew Research Center, The Politics of Climate

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