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[Barrett2]

Increased Number Think Global Warming Is “Exaggerated”

Gallup Poll

PRINCETON, NJ -- Although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41% now say it is exaggerated. This represents the highest level of public skepticism about mainstream reporting on global warming seen in more than a decade of Gallup polling on the subject.

As recently as 2006, significantly more Americans thought the news underestimated the seriousness of global warming than said it exaggerated it, 38% vs. 30%. Now, according to Gallup's 2009 Environment survey, more Americans say the problem is exaggerated rather than underestimated, 41% vs. 28%.

The trend in the "exaggerated" response has been somewhat volatile since 2001, and the previous high point, 38%, came in 2004. Over the next two years, "exaggerated" sentiment fell to 31% and 30%. Still, as noted, the current 41% is the highest since Gallup's trend on this measure began in 1997.

Since 1997, Republicans have grown increasingly likely to believe media coverage of global warming is exaggerated, and that trend continues in the 2009 survey; however, this year marks a relatively sharp increase among independents as well. In just the past year, Republican doubters grew from 59% to 66%, and independents from 33% to 44%, while the rate among Democrats remained close to 20%.

Notably, all of the past year's uptick in cynicism about the seriousness of global warming coverage occurred among Americans 30 and older. The views of 18- to 29-year-olds, the age group generally most concerned about global warming and most likely to say the problem is underestimated, didn't change.

Dampened Concern

Apart from these findings about news coverage of global warming, the March 5-8 poll shows in a similar vein that Americans are a bit less concerned about the seriousness of global warming per se than they have been in recent years.

Six in 10 Americans indicate that they are highly worried about global warming, including 34% who are worried "a great deal" and 26% "a fair amount." Overall worry is similar to points at the start of the decade, but is down from 66% a year ago and from 65% in 2007.

The 2009 Gallup Environment survey measured public concern about eight specific environmental issues. Not only does global warming rank last on the basis of the total percentage concerned either a great deal or a fair amount, but it is the only issue for which public concern dropped significantly in the past year.

Also, compared with last year, fewer Americans believe the effects of global warming have begun to occur. The figure is now 53%, down from 61% in March 2008. At the same time, a record-high 16% say the effects will never occur. (Prior to now, Gallup polling found no more than 11% of Americans saying the effects of global warming would never happen.)

Most Doubt Warming Is a "Serious Threat"

Altogether, 68% of U.S. adults believe the effects of global warming will be manifest at some point in their lifetimes, indicating the public largely believes the problem is real. However, only 38% of Americans, similar to the 40% found in 2008, believe it will pose "a serious threat" to themselves or their own way of life.

This fear that global warming will pose a serious threat in one's lifetime steadily expanded from 25% in 1997 to 40% in 2008. The drop this year to 38% is not statistically significant; however, it is the first time since 1997 that the rate of concern has not increased.

Bottom Line

Americans generally believe global warming is real. That sets the U.S. public apart from the global-warming skeptics who assembled this week in New York City to try to debunk the science behind climate change. At the same time, with only 34% of Americans saying they worry "a great deal" about the problem, most Americans do not view the issue in the same dire terms as the many prominent leaders advancing global warming as an issue.

Importantly, Gallup's annual March update on the environment shows a drop in public concern about global warming across several different measures, suggesting that the global warming message may have lost some footing with Americans over the past year. Gallup has documented declines in public concern about the environment at times when other issues, such as a major economic downturn or a national crisis like 9/11, absorbed Americans' attention. To some extent that may be true today, given the troubling state of the U.S. economy. However, the solitary drop in concern this year about global warming, among the eight specific environmental issues Gallup tested, suggests that something unique may be happening with the issue.

Certainly global warming has received tremendous attention this decade, including with Al Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." It is not clear whether the troubled economy has drawn attention away from the global warming message or whether other factors are at work. It will be important to see whether the 2009 findings hold up in next year's update of the annual environmental survey.

Not too surprising, IMO. The combination of the economic crisis and the contentious Presidential Campaign last year both seem like they would contribute to this new poll trend. In any event, its another sad bullet point to put in Bush's biography of shame, presiding over a dramatic increase in skepticism over climate change while President. :lol

 

[HyperZone<3]

all those right-wing blowhard radio shows are seriously meddling with America's smarts. Evolution, stem cell research, global warming, these are things that have a strong scientific consensus, but you wouldn't know that if it weren't for all the toxic disinformation coming from the know-nothing crowd.

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

ARGH!#$#@!!#@(

FIX THAT FUCKING EDUCATION SYSTEM!

No wait, those are the older fucking assholes who won't be around long enough to give a damn anyway that are most skeptical of them.

I say that we should wipe out the 50 and older crowd and restart the planet with a more positive forward looking world view.

Seriously though... this baby boomer generation will turn out to be the biggest bunch of selfish fuckwits to ever have lived, as the rest of us start to wake up to the mess of a reality that they've left behind and attempt to deal with it in what ways we can.

 

[Binabik15]

Come on, global warming existed for YEARS and we´re still here. That means it´s harmless. Stupid liberal fear-mongering thread.

 

[Joni]

Global warming is a completely inadequate term, I don't believe in global warming as there is no such thing. The Earth nature and weather is changing through the emission of carbon dioxides, but global warming is just a bad name. At this point, global warming is more likely to cause an ice age than actual global warming.

Science is also a bit too limited at the moment to grasp the scope of it. Part of the higher temperature can be attributed to natural emissions. A vulcano can produce more emissions than every nation put together. Even animal farts produce carbon emissions. Another part can be attributed to solar warming, our sun is heating up and it will never stop. We need to learn how much 'man' is actually contributing to this process and need to think up alternate solutions if it turns out we play just a tiny role in it.

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Come on, global warming existed for YEARS and we´re still here. That means it´s harmless. Stupid liberal fear-mongering thread.

You're not Astrolad fucker.

 

[Binabik15]

True, so I don´t have a post history people can look through and see that I´m joking.

I´m German, btw, so I´m more liberal and environmental than you. Hah. I even voted for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Global warming is a completely inadequate term, I don't believe in global warming as there is no such thing. The Earth nature and weather is changing through the emission of carbon dioxides, but global warming is just a bad name. At this point, global warming is more likely to cause an ice age than actual global warming.

Science is also a bit too limited at the moment to grasp the scope of it. Part of the higher temperature can be attributed to natural emissions. A vulcano can produce more emissions than every nation put together. Even animal farts produce carbon emissions. Another part can be attributed to solar warming, our sun is heating up and it will never stop. We need to learn how much 'man' is actually contributing to this process and need to think up alternate solutions if it turns out we play just a tiny role in it.

In response to your Volcanos can put out more emissions than every nation combined.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20070907134037AA6C8g9

Not by a long shot. That kind of shit is the disinformation put out by these Republican agenda fuckwits.


Although I've typed out many a response before; it boils down to this.

Although mankind produces a small amount of greenhouse relative to the overall greenhouse effect; an effect that includes the water evaporation of all bodies of water in the world, we still produce a SIGNIFICANT effect.

Moreover, when you actually understand that the natural cycle accounts for a huge temperature range (think of earth as a frozen ice block without it), a small change to a large range is still pretty significant.

To exacerbate issues, the climate change that mankind causes is significantly more uneven than the natural climate cycle; which means that many areas are been disturbed out of their natural weather cycle.

So the real term of global warming should be; Climate Disruption.



Finally, while the world has gone through extreme forms of climate change over its geological timescale, and humans have been around those eras, none of these changes bode well for the current state of humanity, which would be highly and dramatically affected by climate change of any sort, much less rapid climate change caused by our disruption of the climate.

The world in general will be fine for the most part, irrespective of what we do, especially on a geological timescale. But we won't be.

 

[Kipz]

*Looks at Day after tomorrow*
Yep. I think they may be on to something.

 

[Max@GC]

"Exaggerated" huh? Well then let´s all see what happens when the Gulf Stream is history due to the lack of all the polar ice. Wait...better not.

 

[Brimstone]

Former NASA chief scientist is a sceptic on the Global Warming claims.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/28/nasa_climate_theon/

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Former NASA chief scientist is a sceptic on the Global Warming claims.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/28/nasa_climate_theon/

Who gives a fuck about that guy?

We've got a CURRENT NASA head at Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who is happy to provide ample evidence corrobating the case for climate disruption caused by man.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Even animal farts produce carbon emissions.

cows farting contributes to the greenhouse effect far more than the aviation industry (by a ludicrous amount)

but we farm cows.... so it's still our fault.

 

[Dan]

I don't think any of those questions adequately ask people whether they BELIEVE the news, scientific data, etc. They're all questions one step removed from that.

 

[iamcool388]

all those right-wing blowhard radio shows are seriously meddling with America's smarts. Evolution, stem cell research, global warming, these are things that have a strong scientific consensus, but you wouldn't know that if it weren't for all the toxic disinformation coming from the know-nothing crowd.

http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html

I'm surprised no one has brought this up yet... Michael Crichton on scientific consensus.

Michael Crichton might have been right... might have been wrong... but he was always interesting and definitely worth reading.

http://www.michaelcrichton.com/speech-environmentalismaseligion.html

 

[NotWii]

Climate Change is real (and part of the natural cycle)
Global Warming is fearmongering crap to justify carbon taxes

But we still need to cut emissions and harmful activities since it's bad for the biosphere.

 

[Steeven]

I, as a European, agree with these skeptical Americans.

 

[fanboi]

I, as a European, agree with these skeptical Americans.

Your avatar, good sir, fits you!

 

[JayDubya]

Exaggerated? Sure, I'd sign on to that one.

 

[fanboi]

When people is discussing this, and finds it exaggerated, what do you mean with exaggerated? That it will not happen during your life time, or not during your child or what?

 

[malsumis]

When people is discussing this, and finds it exaggerated, what do you mean with exaggerated? That it will not happen during your life time, or not during your child or what?

probably that it won't have such bad effect as some organizations claim.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

"Exaggerated" huh? Well then let´s all see what happens when the Gulf Stream is history due to the lack of all the polar ice. Wait...better not.

Or once those polar ice caps melt, causing the oceans to cool, we could have another ice age. That's what happened the last time these things started. Where will your global warming be then huh? huh?

 

[prodystopian]

Thinking about what is said in the news

This is the key phrase for me. I'd answer that just about anything is exaggerated if I'm supposed to compare it to "what is said in the news." This does not mean that I do not think climate change is a problem or that we are doing enough about it. I just feel as though 24 hour news does nothing but report the most negative story they can without making things up (in most cases).

 

[eznark]

I think it's hilarious people think global warming is exaggerated when everyday the melting ice caps threaten to swallow the entire Eastern seaboard and kill millions of people.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I think it's hilarious people think global warming is exaggerated when everyday the melting ice caps threaten to swallow the entire Eastern seaboard and kill millions of people.

:lol Well played sir! Well played!

 

[starmud]

its all about "climate change" now

i hardly even hear "global warming" anymore...

 

[sk3]

The Earth is going to the rock the fuck out of our shit no matter what we do. I don't doubt we can be cleaner. Who wants to breath air in London, LA, or China? But the natural cycles of the earth are much more powerful than anything humans do.

 

[iamcool388]

its all about "climate change" now

i hardly even hear "global warming" anymore...

They had to... people got tired of changing it from warming to cooling to warming... Change is better... One word fits all.

 

[chase]

Idiots.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Obviously people are more worried about the shit-tacular global economy than global warming as it poses a more immediate threat.

 

[NotWii]

I think it's hilarious people think global warming is exaggerated when everyday the melting ice caps threaten to swallow the entire Eastern seaboard and kill millions of people.

That's cause there's active volcanoes under the icecaps :lol

My ice cream melted today, IT'S GLOBAL WARMING I TELLS YA!

 

[hadareud]

That's cause there's active volcanoes under the icecaps :lol

My ice cream melted today, IT'S GLOBAL WARMING I TELLS YA!

are you sure it's active volconoes?

I mean, couldn't it just be the nuclear fusion plants that the Atlantis-people didn't have time to switch off anymore when they went back to their home planet when they left Atlantis under the polar ice-caps?

I think both possibilities are equally likely to be honest.

 

[ViperVisor]

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,012 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 5-8, 2009.

That was a streak of days all 20 degrees above average where I am in the Midwest.

That mild weather in winter probably effected people or at least subconsciously. Maybe it increased the numbers a little vs if it was a cold spell. 65 in March is nice so maybe warming is good.

But if they ask the same people during a time when it was equally abnormally warmer in June July August when you would feel the 85+ heat people would say different.

 

[Schattenjäger]

all those right-wing blowhard radio shows are seriously meddling with America's smarts. Evolution, stem cell research, global warming, these are things that have a strong scientific consensus, but you wouldn't know that if it weren't for all the toxic disinformation coming from the know-nothing crowd.

i sense much anger in you..

 

[cryptic]

That's cause there's active volcanoes under the icecaps :lol

My ice cream melted today, IT'S GLOBAL WARMING I TELLS YA!

Edgar Cayce?

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

i sense much anger in you..

And I sense much ignorance in you.

 

[eznark]

And I sense much ignorance in you.

no you

 

[painey]

in america, your grandkids will pay an 80% income tax, but at least alaska will still be close enough to see russia from your window

 

[rSpooky]

I believe in global warming ( or should I say climate change) it real, I am not convinced that iti sall manmade, since here is enough evidence the planet cooled down and heated up many times during it's excistence. It seems to be more of a natural cycle perhaps caused by the sun ? Now this doesnt mean we should keep wasting and keep using fossil fuels, but honestly I do not thing we can really stop it or control it , perhaps we should spend these billions of $$ into developing ways to live through a global warming or ice age ?

ok.. gotta go do some work .

 

[Owensboro]

*Looks at Day after tomorrow*
Yep. I think they may be on to something.

I'm fully prepared for marauding bands of wolves that inhabit ships. That was the truly scary part of that movie.

 

[Buttchin]

the way that the news media portrays global warming and some of its more famous "figureheads" makes it easy for me to see why people are skeptic. If you use scare tactics you aren't gonna necessarily convince people. When a climatologist systematically goes through the studies and experiments that support the theory (and if they are honest explain the other legitimate though less supported hypothesis) and explain why they think they do i doubt as many people are as skeptical.

ITs good to have skeptics to keep a theory honest (especailly if they are scientists who are skeptic!) but we are steadily reaching a scary level of skepticism.

 

[Mash]

I only watch BBC news and their reports always seem fairly balanced from what I've watched. For what it's worth, I think it's just common sense that if you constantly chug thousands of tonnes of shit into the atmosphere, over long enough time, it's going to have some kind of effect. As for the results of this report, I really don't care what Joe Public thinks on this matter anyway.

 

[rpmurphy]

*Looks at Day after tomorrow*
Yep. I think they may be on to something.

Seriously. It's not only terrible PR for the scientific study of climate change, but it also contributes to the negative shadow over scientific research overall because of the exaggerated nature of how it's all reported in the lay media. Unfortunately, rich, gullible, and outspoken people are the source of much funding and exposure for science.

 

[arstal]

The problem with global warming is that the statistics used are inexact, and potentially biased. Weathermen and environmentalists often disagree on this due to that.

Also, I think Americans rightfully believe that the remedies suggested by environmentalists will end up making things worse, as production will shift and there will be a race to the bottom. Kyoto especially rankled Americans, as it was nothing more then typical UN panhandling disguised as environmental, in a rather hamhanded and amateurish fashion. there's a reason it didn't get a single Senate vote.

Obama's carbon tax idea is awful.

 

[Mistouze]

Is there any other country besides the US who is global warming sceptic? This shit never fails to make me laugh.

 

[Blader]

No shit global warming is exaggerated. It's hardly the immediate threat that people would have you believe.

 

[daw840]

I am glad I live in Kansas. Beach Front property FTMFW!!

 

[Barrett2]

No shit global warming is exaggerated. It's hardly the immediate threat that people would have you believe.

I will admit, it is very embarrassing to see someone like Prince Charles, for example, hop off his jet and speak at some dinner to proclaim that global warming is "the most dangerous thing" facing the world right now. Considering the economic meltdown, the prospect of nuclear war, famine, starvation, genocide, etc... its just silly to couch an existential problem like climate change as some crushing imperative.

Global warming advocates are in a catch 22. To get people to pay attention to the alleged problem, they have to be semi-hysterical about their warnings. But the more dire they get, the less credible they sound.

 

[xBerserker]

I actually saw something very interesting on the history channel about this earlier this week.

About every 1,000 years the earth orbit changes it's angle slightly around the sun, so at certain points it's farther away. Every 1,000 years or so the earth enters a natural cooling and heating period. What's scary is that we are now in the COOLING period ....

This guy in the early 1900's had this theory that ended up being proven by scientists investigating the rocks of a lake bed.

 

[harSon]

It's certainly an issue, quite a large issue actually, but I have to agree that it's highly exaggerated by some.