Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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The Politics of Climate
Deep political divides over how well climate scientists understand climate-related issues
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- The Politics of Climate
- Trust in climate scientists is low among Republicans; considerably higher among liberal Democrats
- Wide differences between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats on likely effects of climate change and effectiveness of ways to address it
- 36% of Americans are personally concerned about climate issues
- More climate-engaged Americans say negative effects are likely and policy actions can make a big difference
- U.S. public is closely divided in ratings of news media’s coverage of climate issues
- Strong party-ideological divides over balance of news media coverage on climate issues
- Americans trust in military, scientists relatively high; media, business leaders, elected officials low
- Broad confidence in scientists to act in the public interest among all political groups
- Strong public support for expanding wind, solar power
- Environmentally concerned Americans are bothered when they see others waste
- Many in U.S. expect negative effects and life changes due to climate change
- Most U.S. adults support a major role for climate scientists in policy decisions
- Minority of U.S. adults see climate scientists’ research and understanding in a positive light
- About half of Americans say Earth is warming due to human activity
- Modest fluctuations in public beliefs about climate change over time
- Many Americans expect harms from climate change
- Most Americans expect major changes to their way of life in the coming years
- About half of Americans say power plant restrictions and international agreement on carbon emissions can have big impact on climate change
- Most Americans want climate scientists to have major role in policymaking
- A minority of Americans perceive scientific consensus on causes of climate change
- Minorities think climate scientists understand these aspects of global climate change very well
- Americans most likely to trust information from climate scientists about causes of climate change
- As many Americans say the best evidence influences climate research as say negative factors are at work
- Political groups are worlds apart in their beliefs about climate change
- A decade of political divides over climate change
- Expectations of harm from climate change differ widely among political groups
- Most liberal Democrats see wide range of actions as making a big difference to address climate issues
- Conservative Republicans favor major role for public in climate policy; others prioritize scientists’ role
- Deep political divides over how well climate scientists understand climate-related issues
- Perceptions of scientific consensus highest among liberal Democrats
- Trust in information from climate scientists is strongly related to politics
- There are wide political divides over the credibility of climate research findings
- 36% of Americans care a great deal about climate change
- Profile of Americans most concerned about climate change
- Climate-engaged think harms are very likely and a wide range of proposals can make a big difference
- Americans concerned about this issue see climate scientists and their research in a more positive light
- Few Americans follow global climate change news very closely
- Americans are divided in their assessment of how well the media covers global climate change
- Most conservative Republicans are negative about climate change media coverage
- 42% of Americans say the media do not take the threat of global climate change seriously enough
- 40% of Americans say reporters give too little attention to skeptics of global climate change
- There is a party ideological divide in evaluating balance of media coverage on climate issues
- Most Americans report concern for the environment; one-in-five try to act on that concern all the time
- Environmentally conscious Americans are mixed in political, climate beliefs
- Profile of those focused on protecting environment in their daily lives
- Public split over whether some key environmental issues are problems in their local communities
- Environmentally conscious Americans bring their own shopping bags, buy cleaning products based on care for environment, but not all the time
- Most Americans have home recycling; fewer have a rain catch or compost pile
- Half of Americans have gone hiking in past year; far fewer have worked on cleanup efforts
- Majority of Americans have at least some close friends who are environmentally conscious in daily living