Poll: Americans' belief in global warming cools
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091022/ap_on_re_us/us_climate_poll>
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer Dina Cappiello, Associated
> Press Writer – 1 hr 23 mins ago
> WASHINGTON – The number of Americans who believe there is solid
> evidence the Earth is warming because of pollution is at its lowest
> point in three years, according to a survey released Thursday.
>
> The poll of 1,500 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the
> Press found that only 57 percent believe there is strong scientific
> evidence the Earth has gotten hotter over the past few decades, and as a
> result, people are viewing the situation as less serious. That's down
> from 77 percent in 2006, and 71 percent in April 2008.
>
> The steepest drop occurred during the past year, as Congress and the
> Obama administration have taken steps to control heat-trapping emissions
> for the first time and international negotiations for a new treaty to
> slow global warming have been under way. At the same time, there has
> been mounting scientific evidence of climate change — from melting
> ice caps to the world's oceans hitting the highest monthly recorded
> temperatures this summer.
>
> The poll was released a day after 18 scientific organizations wrote
> Congress to reaffirm the consensus behind global warming. A federal
> government report Thursday found that global warming is upsetting the
> Arctic's thermostat.
>
> But while the evidence appears clear, only about a third, or 36 percent
> of the poll respondents feel that human activities — such as
> pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles — are behind
> a temperature increase. That's the first decline since 2006.
>
> "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," said Andrew Kohut, the director
> of the research center, which conducted the poll from Sept. 30 to Oct.
> 4. "When the focus is on other things, people forget and see these
> issues as less grave."
>
> Andrew Weaver, a professor of climate analysis at the University of
> Victoria in British Columbia, said politics could be drowning out
> scientific awareness.
>
> "It's a combination of poor communication by scientists, a lousy summer
> in the Eastern United States, people mixing up weather and climate and a
> full-court press by public relations firms and lobby groups trying to
> instill a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the public," he said.
>
> Despite misgivings about the science, half the respondents still say
> they support limits on greenhouse gases, even if they could lead to
> higher energy prices, and a majority — 56 percent — feel the
> United States should join other countries in setting standards to
> address global climate change.
>
> But many of supporters of reducing pollution have heard little to
> nothing about cap-and-trade, the main mechanism for reducing greenhouse
> gases favored by the White House and central to legislation passed by
> the House and a bill the Senate will take up next week.
>
> Under cap-and-trade, a price is put on each ton of pollution, and
> businesses can buy and sell permits to meet emissions limits.
>
> "Perhaps the most interesting finding in this poll ... is that the more
> Americans learn about cap-and-trade, the more they oppose
> cap-and-trade," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who opposes the Senate
> bill and has questioned global warming science. Republicans in general
> have grown even more steadfast in their opposition. A majority — 57
> percent — now say there is no hard evidence of global warming, up
> from 42 percent last year, according to the poll.
>
> Other results of the survey also suggest that it will be tough
> politically to enact a law limiting emissions of global warming
> pollution. While three-quarters of Democrats believe the evidence of a
> warming planet is solid, and nearly half believe the problem is serious,
> far fewer conservative and moderate Democrats see the problem as grave
> as they did last year.
>
> Regional differences were also detected. People living in the Midwest
> and mountainous areas of the West are far less likely to view global
> warming as a serious problem and to support limits on greenhouse gases
> than those in the Northeast and on the West Coast. Both the House and
> Senate bills have been drafted by Democratic lawmakers from
> Massachusetts and California.
>
> One of those lawmakers, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, told reporters
> Thursday that she was happy with the results, given the interests and
> industry groups fighting the bill.
>
> "Today, to get 57 percent saying that the climate is warming is good,
> because today everybody is grumpy about everything," Boxer said.
> "Science will win the day in America. Science always wins the day."
>
> Earlier polls, from different organizations, have not detected a growing
> skepticism about the science behind global warming.
>
> Since 1997, the percentage of Americans that believe the Earth is
> heating up has remained constant — at around 80 percent — in
> polling done by Jon Krosnick of Stanford University. Krosnick, who has
> been conducting surveys on attitudes about global warming since 1993 was
> surprised by the Pew results.
> He described the decline in the Pew results as "implausible," saying
> there is nothing that could have caused it.
> --- In ClimateConcern@yahoogroups.com, "Hugh Bartlett"
> <hughandmaret@...> wrote:
>
>
> >
> >
> http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2009/oct/global-warming-may-spur-\
> increased-growth-pacific-northwest-forests#
> >
> > Here is a new twist on an old theme. A while ago on this forum, there
> was a discussion about how publicists were taking out-of-context
> alarmist statements out of scientific articles to make catchy headlines.
> Here is the first one I've seen going the other direction. Maybe we have
> reached a tipping point where the skeptical position is becoming more
> popular.
> >
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