Americans respond to climate change by yawning at it, poll finds
An outbreak of climate-related yawns appears to be afflicting the country that’s done more than any other to warm the planet.
The results of a Gallup survey reveal just how little climate change raises Americans’ anxiety levels. The research firm called 513 Americans last week and asked them how much they worry about 15 problems facing the nation. When it came to climate change, half said “a little” or “not at all.”
Only a quarter said they worried about climate change “a great deal,” which puts the issue second from the bottom in the list of Americans’ concerns, above only race relations. Even drug use has Americans more worried than climate change.
The following chart shows the percentage of survey respondents who worry a great deal, a fair amount, and a little or not at all about the national problems they were asked about:
Click to embiggen.
And when you break it down by political party, just 10 percent of Republicans said they worry a great deal about climate change, making it the very lowest priority on their list. Compare that with the 74 percent of Republicans who worry a great deal about federal spending and the budget deficit.
That’s obviously lame. But is it lamer that just 36 percent of Democrats said they worry a great deal about climate change?
Click to embiggen.
Source
Climate Change Not a Top Worry in U.S., Gallup
John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.
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Americans respond to climate change by yawning at it, poll finds
