A new Reuters/Ipsos poll confirmed that while a majority of Americans believe climate change is caused by human activity, there are still many who doubt that human-caused global warming could have dire consequences for the planet.
Of the 4,660 American adults polled, 57 percent believe in climate change caused by human activity or mostly human activity, while 43 percent still have their doubts. The belief in human-caused climate change is up from 47 percent in 2012, EcoWatch reported.
The poll was conducted between Nov. 29 and Dec. 10 just after the U.S. government published a critical climate report last month warning that human-caused global warming will have major consequences on the livelihoods of Americans.
“Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities,” the report, which was compiled by 300 top scientists and 13 federal agencies, stated. “The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future – but the severity of future impacts will depend largely on actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur.”
The poll found that only 35 percent of those polled believe climate change caused by human activity to be an “imminent” threat. Yet 69 percent of the total polled want the U.S. to work with other world leaders to combat the climate crisis – 64 percent of those were Republicans, while 80 percent were Democrats.
Scientists and experts confirm that “climate has changed so rapidly in the past half century” and “is due to increases in heat-trapping greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels,” EcoWatch reported.
While scientist believe 2018 is almost guaranteed to be the fourth warmest year on record, Donald Trump replied to the government’s damning climate report saying, “I don’t believe it.”
And according to the new poll, there are still many Americans who side with Trump and have doubts about the global climate crisis as representatives from countries around the world meet in Katowice, Poland this week to discuss how to implement the 2015 Paris agreement and stop the rise in global temperature.
COMMENTS