What do most Americans think of Climate Change?

 Here's last week's news from:

"We are pleased to release a new report, Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2023 based on data from the nationally representative survey we conducted in Fall 2023. 

Overall:

• Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of nearly 5 to 1 (72% versus 15%).
• 58% understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, 29% think it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.
• 65% say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 29% who are “very worried.”
• 28% hear about global warming in the media at least once a week.

We also asked Americans what questions they would ask an expert on global warming, if they had the opportunity, repeating a study we first conducted in 2011:

Even when I enlarge that, it's pretty pale. Perhaps you can enlarge it on  your screen, or, go to the Yale Cmmunication link in the first paragraph, then you can see this chart better. I give up. The type face was black when I had it open, but it saves in this greyness. Sorry.

Butterfly

Bu

Worldwide opinion on Climate Change

 The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: Report dated 11.14.23

Excerpts from the report:

"...a new report, International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023. In partnership with Data for Good at Meta and Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment, we recently conducted a survey investigating public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior among Facebook users in nearly 190 countries and territories worldwide. (Wording varied slightly across countries and territories. Countries in gray were not surveyed.) The survey was fielded from August 3 – September 3, 2023."

I was interested in one aspect of this report...the perception in different countries as to whether climate change would be personally harmful to them...

"Overall, respondents in Central and South America perceive greater personal harm from climate change than do respondents elsewhere. Respondents in wealthier areas generally do not perceive climate change as a personal risk, but rather see it as a much greater threat to future generations. This is consistent with our prior studies finding that for many people, climate change is still perceived as a problem distant in time (future generations) and space (e.g., polar bears or other countries – not me or my family)."

This is the subscription address to get the Yale Climate Change Conversation: 

<climatechange@yale.edu>

Americans thinking about global warming

 From Yale's Climate Communications, What do Americans think is the Biggest threat from Global warming?

62% of those surveyed (n=1,037) answered the open ended question, which researchers gathered into these categories. For more on what each one really signifies, go to the original article.

They then break it down between the political parties...with no surprise there. Democrats are concerned, more Republicans either deny it or think weather change isn't related.

I really appreciate that they describe their methods. The scientific methods need to be known by all of us.

Hope you all have a great weekend. We're due for rain on Friday (when you're reading this) so I put all the outside plants out to get some last good watering. 

And for a smile:

Frederick Stanley's art on Saturday Evening Post cover, 1935.

Climate Change Communication

 From the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication YPCCC

Dear Friends,

In March and April 2022, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) conducted an international survey in collaboration with Data for Good at Meta to examine public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior among Facebook users in nearly 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Prior research by YPCCC and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication has found that people in the United States can be categorized into six distinct groups – Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive – based on their beliefs and attitudes about climate change (Global Warming’s Six Americas).

The Alarmed are convinced climate change is happening, human-caused, and an urgent threat, and strongly support climate policies. The Concerned think human-caused climate change is happening and is a serious threat, and support climate policies. However, they tend to believe that climate impacts are still distant in time and space, thus the issue remains a lower priority. The Cautious have not yet made up their minds: Is climate change happening? Is it human-caused? Is it serious? The Disengaged know little to nothing about climate change and rarely if ever hear about it. The Doubtful do not think climate change is happening or believe it is just a natural cycle. And the Dismissive are convinced climate change is not happening, human-caused, or a threat, and oppose most climate policies.

The international survey conducted by YPCCC and Data for Good at Meta included the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY), a tool that categorizes respondents into this six audiences framework with just 4 questions. Ideally, one would conduct an in-depth study to develop a tailored segmentation of climate change audiences within each country. However, the Six-Audiences framework and SASSY tool can be used as a first-order approximation and a means of cross-national comparison using an identical set of questions that are relevant in all national contexts.

We find that the Alarmed are the largest group in about three-fourths (80 of the 110) of the countries and territories surveyed. In fact, half or more respondents in twenty-nine countries and territories are Alarmed: the five countries with the largest percentage of Alarmed are Chile (65%), Mexico (64%), Malawi (63%), Bolivia (62%), and Sri Lanka (61%). Czechia and Yemen have the smallest percentages of Alarmed (both 9%). In the United States, about one-third of respondents are Alarmed (34%).

By contrast, relatively few respondents in any country or territory are Doubtful or Dismissive. Among major emitters, the United States has the largest proportion of Doubtful and Dismissive, more than one in five (22%).The United States is also less Alarmed about global warming than most other top carbon-emitting countries.

There are substantial differences among the 15 nations responsible for the largest annual shares of global carbon emissions (this study did not include China, Russia, or Iran). Among these countries, the largest proportion of Alarmed are in Mexico (64%), followed by Brazil (59%), and India (55%).

The United States is the second largest annual producer of the carbon emissions that cause global warming. Yet, relatively few people in the United States are Alarmed about global warming, compared to other top emitters. The U.S. and Germany have the fourth-smallest percentage of Alarmed (34%), after the United Kingdom (31%), Saudi Arabia (29%), and Indonesia (27%). On the other end of the Six Audiences spectrum, the countries with the largest percentages of Doubtful or Dismissive respondents are the United States (22%), Saudi Arabia (17%), and Australia (16%). 

The data in this report are based on a survey of 108,946 Facebook monthly active users, aged 18 and older. The survey was conducted from March 25 – April 14, 2022.