Public+Opinion+on+Global+Warming

Evidently, if global warming is true, people throughout the world ought to make an effort to combat climate change. However, because America is a democracy, theoretically, in order for any sort of government action to take place, the people must approve of it. This means that if the government wants to do something about global warming, the people must understand that global warming is a problem and support efforts to combat it. So do people in America even believe in global warming? Why or why not? How serious of a problem is it, and are Americans supportive of government efforts to attempt to stop or slow down global warming? This section will attempt to answer these questions by looking at data from the past decade or so.
 * __Introduction:__**

While Americans generally believe that global warming exists, fewer Americans believe that global warming is caused by human activity than in previous years, and only 28% ranked global warming as a top priority for 2010, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Republicans are much more skeptical of global warming than democrats, and recently independents have sided more with republicans on the issue. However, according to a Yale survey, a vast majority of Americans (about 83%) want the government to take at least some sort of action against climate changes, though this number is down from about 92% in 2008. A Pew Poll shows that 56% of Americans want the United States to join other countries in their attempts to address the problem of climate change.
 * __General Findings:__**

When analyzing data from the past decade or so in regards to how the public feels about climate change, one notices several trends. Global warming has been taken pretty seriously in the past decade with the exception of a small patch of skepticism which emerged in 2004 and another outburst of skepticism beginning in late 2009.
 * __A Closer Look…__**

__Pre-2004: Kyoto Protocols, Warm Summers__ In the years leading up to 2004, a clear majority of Americans were worried a great deal or a fair amount about the greenhouse effect/global warming, and many Americans favored the government taking action against global warming. A 2001 ABC poll demonstrated that about 6 in 10 Americans were in favor of the United States abiding by the Kyoto Protocols, which is an international effort which aims to reduce emissions associated with climate change, such as carbon dioxide, by 2012. Additionally, over 50% of Americans believed that global warming was about to (or had already begun to) have an effect in our everyday lives, according to a Gallup Poll.

__2004, a Low Point: Election Year, Blockbuster Movies, and More:__ In 2004, 38% of Americans in a Gallup Poll said that they thought the gravity of global warming was exaggerated by the press, up from just 33% in 2003 and 30% in 2001. As John Roach of National Geographic points out, “In 2004 global warming made the covers of //National Geographic// and //Business Week// magazines, was the subject of a blockbuster movie, and was a theme in a Michael Crichton's best-selling novel //State of Fear//—all signs that the issue has captured widespread media attention.” Global warming was also an issue in the 2004 election, with Democratic candidate John Kerry stating that he would be “a president who trusts science,” whereas the victor of the election George W. Bush did not acknowledge a link between human activity and climate change. With all of the press attention and hyperbolic movies like //The Day After Tomorrow// (wherein the entire world was embroiled in fantastic storms without precedent), it’s understandable why the public may have felt that the seriousness of climate change was being exaggerated.

However, just because many Americans felt the seriousness of climate change was being exaggerated doesn’t mean they didn’t find it to be a problem. 58% held that what was said about the seriousness of global warming was either correct or underestimated, and 51% were at least worried a “fair amount” about the greenhouse effect/global warming. And despite wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and a not-so-promising economy (just 37% of Americans had a positive view of the economy), 36% of Americans considered global warming to be a “top priority”, according to the Pew Research Center.

__2005-2008: An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s Nobel Prize, Heat wave__

In the years 2005-2008, the public took global warming a bit more seriously. The percentage of Americans worried at least a “fair amount” about the greenhouse effect shot up from just 51% in 2004 and stood around 65% from 2006-2008. The increase in concern probably arose for a variety of reasons. First of all, 2005 turned out to be the warmest year in over a century, according to NASA data. Second, Al Gore’s //An Inconvenient Truth// came out in June of 2006. The 100 minute long documentary details how global warming takes place, supplies the viewer with possible consequences of global warming if left unabated, and offers some tips that the viewer can use to help combat the problem of climate change. The documentary was very widely viewed, grossing $49,756,507 worldwide. An additional 50,000 copies were given away to teachers in the United States between late December of 2006 and January of 2007. The documentary would go on to win two Oscars and Gore would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his film. The documentary clearly had an impact on public opinion: before the film came out in America, just 70% thought there was solid evidence for global warming, but just a month after its release, 79% felt that there was solid evidence, and the number of Americans who thought global warming was primarily caused by human activity rose 9%, according to a Pew Poll. Additionally, a Yale study found that 92% wanted at least some sort of government action taken to address climate change.

__2009/2010: Blizzards and Climate-gate; Media Fabrication or Lack of Scientific Integrity?__ Eventually, Gore’s documentary began to blow over, NASA reported that 2008 was the coolest year of the decade, and the hustle and bustle about global warming began to die down. But in late 2009, a scandal dubbed “Climate-gate” by some erupted. An anonymous hacker stole some emails from prominent climatologists and released them to the press. How exactly the emails are to be interpreted is up for debate, but the way [|Fox News reported] it was the “Climate-gate scandal exposed global warming as a myth cooked up by alarmists.” The Washington Post was much more cautious in its analysis of the situation, stating “They don't provide proof that human-caused climate change is a lie or a swindle. But they do raise hard questions. In an effort to control what the public hears, did prominent scientists who link climate change to human behavior try to squelch a back-and-forth that is central to the scientific method? Is the science of global warming messier than they have admitted?”

Regardless of whether or not the Climate-gate scandal is just a fabrication as [|some have suggested], Climate-gate (and several blizzards in the winter) obviously impacted Americans’ feelings on global warming. The percentage of Americans who believe global warming won’t begin affecting us until after our lifetimes (or will NEVER affect us) is up to 35% in 2010, from just 24% in 2008. 41% believe that the media has exaggerated the seriousness of global warming, an unprecedented high, and just 50% believe that changes in Earth’s climate are due to human activities, down from 61% in 2007. Nonetheless, according to the same 2010 Gallup Poll, 53% of Americans still believe the effects of climate change have already taken place, or will begin in a few years, and 83% still support some sort of government action to combat climate change.

Despite growing skepticism of human-caused global warming as of late, the majority of Americans still believe in global warming, and Americans have consistently favored governmental efforts to address the problem. What, then, have our government and other governments done to handle the issue?
 * __Conclusion:__**

Legislation in the US International Efforts

Items referenced in the //General Findings// section: 2010 Gallup Poll: [] and [] Yale Study: [] Pew Poll: []
 * __Sources:__**

Items referenced in the //Pre-2004: Kyoto Protocols, Warm Summers// section: ABC News Poll: [] Gallup Poll: []

Items referenced in the //2004, a Low Point: Election Year, Blockbuster Movies, and More// section: Gallup poll: [] National Geographic Article: [] Pew Poll: []

Items referenced in the //2005-2008: An Inconvenient Truth, Gore's Nobel Prize, Heat Wave// section: NASA Data: [] Pew Poll: [] Info. on //An Inconvenient Truth:// [] [] Yale Study and Gallup Poll are same sources as found in //General Findings// section.

Items referenced in the //2009/2010: Blizzards and Climate-gate; Media Fabrication or Lack of Scientific Integrity?// section: Fox News Article: [] Washington Post Article: [] Gallup Poll and Yale Study are the same as referenced earlier in //General Findings// section.