What global warming?
by December 3, 2009 8:57 pm 58 views
A new Harris Poll finds that those who believe that the release of carbon dioxide and other gases will lead to global warming has dropped from 71% two years ago to only 51% now. While many people are not sure, those who do not believe that carbon dioxide emissions will cause global warming have increased from 23% to 29% since 2007.
The poll comes as President Barack Obama prepares to head to Copenhagen next week to work with world leaders on a global climate initiative.
Survey results came from a survey of 2,303 U.S. adults conducted between Nov. 2 and Nov. 11.
“The sharp drop in those who believe that greenhouse emissions will cause global warming will make it harder for leaders to introduce new policies to promote alternative energy sources and reduce our carbon footprint,” Harris noted in the survey report. “The large differences between the attitudes of Democrats and Republicans will also make it more difficult to develop new bipartisan energy policies.”
SURVEY FINDINGS
• The 51% who believe emissions will cause climate change is by far the lowest number recorded in any Harris Poll since the question was first asked 12 years ago. Since 2000, 70% or more of adults have believed this. This big change is mainly a result of a big increase in those who are not sure, up from 6% in 2007 to 21% now.
• Opinions on global warming are politically polarized. There is a huge difference between the 73% of Democrats who believe that greenhouse emissions cause global warming and the 28% of Republicans and 49% of Independents who believe this.
• Notwithstanding the decline in those who believe that emissions will cause global warming, most people (75%) think we should treat the possibility of global warming as a serious problem. However, there has been a modest drop in those who think it should be treated as a very serious problem from 46% in 2007 to 41% now.
• There are also big differences by party: 63% of Democrats but only 17% of Republicans and 38% of Independents believe global warming should be treated as a very serious problem.