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Americans cooling on global warming In April 2008, 44% viewed global warming as a serious problem; latest Pew survey says that number appears to be down to 35% Petroleum News
There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who believe there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem — 35 percent say that today, down from 44 percent in April 2008.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 57 percent think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71 percent said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures.
Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36 percent say that currently, down from 47 percent last year.
Andrew Kohut, director of the research center, believes that “the priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy and because of the focus on other things.”
Democrats: 83% in 2008 to 75% today The decline in the belief in solid evidence of global warming has come across the political spectrum, but has been particularly pronounced among independents, the survey indicated. Just 53 percent of independents now see solid evidence of global warming, compared with 75 percent who did so in April 2008. Republicans, who already were highly skeptical of the evidence of global warming, have become even more so: Just 35 percent of Republicans now see solid evidence of rising global temperatures, down from 49 percent in 2008 and 62 percent in 2007. Fewer Democrats also express this view — 75 percent today compared with 83 percent last year.
Despite the growing public skepticism about global warming, the survey finds more support than opposition for a policy to set limits on carbon emissions. Half of Americans favor setting limits on carbon emissions and making companies pay for their emissions, even if this may lead to higher energy prices; 39 percent oppose imposing limits on carbon emissions under these circumstances.
This issue has not registered widely with the public. Just 14 percent say they have heard a lot about the “cap and trade” policy that would set carbon dioxide emissions limits; another 30 percent say they have heard a little about the policy, while a majority of 55 percent has heard nothing at all.
The small minority that has heard a lot about the issue opposes carbon emissions limits by two-to-one — 64 percent to 32 percent. More Republicans (20 percent) and independents (17 percent) than Democrats (8 percent) have heard a lot about cap and trade. Among the much larger group that has heard little or nothing about the issue, most support it (58 percent little, 50 percent nothing).
With less than two months before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 56 percent of Americans think the United States should join other countries in setting standards to address global climate change while 32 percent say that the United States should set its own standards.
Believers say largely caused by human activity Opinions about global warming changed little between 2006 and 2008, the survey showed. In August 2006 and January 2007, 77 percent said there was solid evidence that the earth’s temperatures were increasing; that figure fell modestly to 71 percent in April of last year.
Among those who saw solid evidence of global warming, most said it was largely caused by human activity, such as burning fossil fuels; in all three of those surveys, 47 percent of the public expressed this view. Far smaller percentages — including just 18 percent in 2008 — said it was mostly caused because of natural environmental patterns.
According to the survey, fewer than four-in-10, or 36 percent, now say global warming is mostly caused by human activity such as burning fossil fuels, while 16 percent say it is occurring mostly because of natural environmental patterns.
Decline steepest among moderate, liberal Republicans Fifty-three percent of independents say there is solid evidence of warming, including 33 percent who say it is mostly caused by human activity. But this is far lower than in April 2008 when 75 percent said global warming was happening and 50 percent said it was due to human activity.
The proportion of Republicans saying there is solid evidence of global warming declined from 62 percent in 2007 to 49 percent in 2008, Pew’s survey shows.
The balance of opinion among Republicans has shifted, with a majority of 57 percent now saying there is no hard evidence of global warming. The drop among moderate and liberal Republicans has been particularly steep; 41 percent now say there is solid evidence of global warming, compared with 69 percent last year. The decline among conservative Republicans has been more modest, from 43 percent to 32 percent.
The survey suggests there has been less change in opinions among Democrats. Seventy-five percent of Democrats say there is solid evidence the earth is warming, including 50 percent who say that it is mostly because of human activity. In April 2008, 83 percent of Democrats said the earth is warming and 58 percent attributed it to human actions. More liberal Democrats than conservative and moderate Democrats say the earth is warming — 83 percent vs. 72 percent — and far more liberal Democrats say that global warming is caused by human activity — 69 percent vs. 43 percent.
Strong regional differences There also are strong regional differences in opinions about global warming. Fewer people living in the Mountain West (44 percent) and the Midwest (48 percent) say there is solid evidence of warming than in other regions.
Similarly, there have been sharp declines since April 2008 in the proportion who say the earth is warming in the Mountain West (75 percent to 44 percent) and the Great Lakes region (69 percent to 49 percent). Both regions have also seen large drops in the percentage who say that warming is caused by human activity.
Fewer see warming as serious problem Sixty-five percent of the public continues to view global warming as a very (35 percent) or somewhat (30 percent) serious problem. But in April 2008, 73 percent expressed this view, including 44 percent who thought it was a very serious problem.
About a third (32 percent) says global warming is not too serious (15 percent) or not a problem at all (17 percent). Last year, 24 percent said it was little or no problem. From 2006 to 2008, these numbers had been quite stable.
Partisan differences also are evident on evaluations of the seriousness of global warming. Forty-nine percent of Democrats say global warming is a very serious problem, down from 57 percent in April 2008. Far fewer conservative and moderate Democrats say global warming is a serious problem than did so last year, widening the gap between them and liberal Democrats. Currently, 39 percent of conservative and moderate Democrats say it is a very serious problem compared with 70 percent of liberal Democrats. A third of independents now say global warming is a very serious problem, a decline of 13 points from last year.
Only 14 percent of Republicans say that global warming is a very serious problem, down from 22 percent in April 2008. Just 20 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans now say that global warming is a very serious problem, down from 35 percent last year. Only 10 percent of conservative Republicans now say global warming is a very serious problem.
People living in the Midwest (30 percent) and the Mountain West (26 percent) are the least likely to view global warming as a very serious problem. There have been modest declines across regions, but they are particularly steep in the West (52 percent April 2008 to 36 percent now).
Young people most concerned According to the Pew survey, young people are now far more likely than older Americans to view global warming as a very serious problem. Across all age groups, except those younger than 30, the percent who think warming is a very serious problem has declined since April 2008.
Unsurprisingly, views about the seriousness of global warming are also related to whether people think there is solid evidence the earth is warming and whether it is humanly caused. A third of those who do not think there is solid evidence of global warming say it is a very or somewhat serious problem while 65 percent say it is not too serious or not a problem at all.
By comparison, the survey showed 65 percent of those who say that the warming is mostly caused by natural patterns in the earth’s environment say global warming is at least a somewhat serious problem. Nearly all (97 percent) who think the earth is warming mostly because of human activity say it is a problem. These numbers, Pew says, are largely unchanged from April 2008.
Ranked at bottom of everyone’s priorities In January 2009, Pew said global warming ranked at the bottom of the public’s list of policy priorities for the president and Congress this year. Only 30 percent of the public said it should be a top priority, down from 35 percent in 2008.
More than twice as many Democrats (45 percent) as Republicans (16 percent) rank global warming as a top priority, along with 25 percent of independents. Global warming is the lowest-rated priority for both independents and Republicans and ranks sixteenth for Democrats among 20 issues (http://people-press.org/report/554/news-iq-knowledge-quiz).
About Pew The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. All of its current survey results are made available free of charge.
For information about Pew’s survey methodology, see http://people-press.org/methodology/.
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