Climate Change Survey Summary

Climate Change Survey Summary - Fall 2001

HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT THE POSSIBLITY OF GLOBAL WARMING?

Not Concerned - 0 / 0%

Slightly Concerned - 9 / 39%

Concerned - 14 / 61%

Very Concerned - 0 / 0%

WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, WHAT KIND OF CHANGE DO YOU THINK THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT?

Temperature Changes - 20

Pollution - 03

Ozone Depletion 03

Sea Level / Ice Caps - 03

"Weather Changes" 03

LISTING OF THINGS THAT COULD CAUSE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

Pollution 14

Ozone Depletion 08

Overpopulation 02

[ONE EACH:]

Earth Axis Flux / Vulcanism / Ice Shelf Changes / Natural Processes / Unknown Anthropogenic Causes / Deforestation / Increased Greenhouse Gases

ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

No 05 / 22%

Maybe 16 / 70%

Yes 02 / 08%

IF YOU ANSWERED YES ABOVE, PLEASE TELL US THE EVIDENCE / SOURCE

Obvious Air Pollution 03

Media 02

Educators 02

Political Groups 01

Decreasing Snowfall 01

LIST THE TOP 5 SOURCES (COUNTRIES, GROUPS, INDUSTRIES, ETC) YOU BELIEVE COULD CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

"Large Industry" 13

United States 13

Transportation 09

National Governments 06

Mexico 05

"Pollution" 05

Air Pollution 03

"People" 03

European Union 02

Automakers 02

Oil Producers 02

Power Plants 02

Nuclear Power 02

Educators 02

3^rd World Countries 02

Germany 01

Solid Waste Generation 01

North Pole (sic) 01

Chemical Industry 01

US President 01

Hair Spray 01

Deforestation 01

"None" 01

WHO SHOULD BEAR THE BURDEN OF PREVENTING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

Everyone 19

US President 01

Science 01

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU THINK YOUR GOVERNMENT CAN DO TO PREVENT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

Maybe 15 / 66%

No 01 / 04%

Yes 07 / 30%

IF YOU ANSWERED "YES"...WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE ACTIONS THAT YOUR GOVERNMENT COULD TAKE?

Increased Pollution Regulations 5

ONE EACH:

Solar Power / Wind Power / Recycling / Ban on Ozone Depleting Chemicals / Protect Forests

FROM WHICH THREE OF THE FOLLOWING DO YOU RECEIVE MOST OF YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?

IN RANKED ORDER

Mass Media 51

Print Media 35

School 22

Family 18

Friends 09

WWW 03

Environmental Groups n/a

Community n/a

Technical Publications n/a

Other n/a

WHO IS MOST TRUSTED AS A SOURCE TO PROVIDE CORRECT INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLIMATE CHANGE?

IN RANKED ORDER

Scientists 202

Print Media 154

Teachers 154

Mass Media 146

Environmental Groups 143

Family 116

WWW 107

Friends 94

Government 92

Other 22

IN YOUR MIND, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT HUMAN ACTIONS HAVE ALREADY CHANGED GLOBAL CLIMATE?

0% 0 / 0%

1-20% 5 / 21%

21-40% 4 / 17%

41-60% 6 / 25%

61-80% 3 / 13%

81-99% 3 / 13%

100% 3 / 13%

IN YOUR MIND, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT HUMAN ACTIONS WILL CHANGE GLOBAL CLIMATE?

0% 0 / 0%

1-20% 2 / 7 %

21-40% 6 / 25%

41-60% 6 / 25%

61-80% 3 / 13%

81-99% 4 / 13%

100% 2 / 7%

HOW IF AT ALL, DO YOU THINK HUMAN ACTIONS HAVE CHANGED AVERAGE TEMPERATURES UP TO NOW?

NO CHANGE 6 / 25%

INCREASED 17 / 75%

DECREASED 0 / 0%

DO YOU THINK HUMAN ACTIONS WILL CAUSE FUTURE INCREASES IN GLOBAL TEMPERATURES?

NO 4 / 13%

YES 17 / 80%

UNK 2 / 7%

IF GLOBAL CLIMATE DOES CHANGE, WILL IT HAVE A DIRECT INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE?

NO 4 / 13%

YES 19 / 87%

IF YOU ANSWERED YES...PLEASE LIST THE WAYS YOUR LIFE MIGHT BE AFFECTED?

Higher Energy Costs 5

Hotter Environments 5

Biotic Changes 3

Water Shortages/Pollution 2

ONE EACH: More / Worse Storms, O3 Layer Damage, Drought, Global Warming, Skin Cancer, Health Problems.

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PLEASE INDICATE 1=TRUE, 2=PROBABLY TRUE, 3=UNSURE, 4=PROBABLY FALSE

1 2 3 4 5

CLIMATE MEANS AVERAGE WEATHER 13 5 1 1

WEATHER MEANS AVERAGE CLIMATE 4 13 2 1

CLIMATE OFTEN CHANGES YEAR TO YEAR 4 9 5 3

WEATHER OFTEN CHANGES YEAR TO YEAR 17 3 1 0

CLIMATE MEANS THE SAME THING AS WEATHER 2 9 5 3

EARTH CLIMATE HAS BEEN SAME FOR EONS 1 6 3 9

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES....

TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH IS AFFECTED BY...

People 8 / Sun 6 / Politics 2 / O3 layer 1 / God 1 / Wind 1 / Climate 1 /

Atmospheric Dynamics 1 /

A MAJOR CAUSE OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS...

Politics 6 / People 4 / O3 layer 4 / CO2 1 / Natural Cycles 1 / Industry 1

Weather 1 / God

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE....

Affects Everyone 3 / Requires Human Solutions 3 / Affects the Ecosystem 3

Is Natural 3 / Is Harmful 1 / Is Good and Bad 1 / Is Getting Worse 1

SHOULD PEOPLE TAKE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO PREVENT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSED BY HUMAN ACTIONS?

NO 0 / 0%

YES 18 / 86%

UNSURE 3 / 14%

SINCE THERE IS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, HOW CERTAIN WOULD THE EXPERTS NEED TO BE ABOUT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE BEFORE YOU WOULD CONSIDER SUCH ACTIONS?

0% 0 / 0%

1-20% 2 / 10%

21-40% 2 / 10%

41-60% 11 / 55%

61-80% 4 / 20%

81-99% 1 / 5%

RANK THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS ACCORDING TO YOUR CONCERN ABOUT THE RISKS THEY POSE TO YOU, FROM THE RISKIEST ACTIVITY (1) TO THE LEAST RISKY (13)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

GLOBAL WARMING 2 3 2 4 5 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 0

O3 DEPLETION 8 1 1 5 3 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

DEFORESTATION 1 0 4 2 3 2 4 1 2 3 0 0 0

SPECIES LOSS 0 0 0 1 1 6 2 3 2 3 0 0 2

POLLUTION 0 6 5 1 2 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0

OVERPOPULATION 4 2 1 2 3 1 3 1 3 1 1 0 0

NATURAL DISASTERS 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 4 0 1 1

DISEASE 2 3 5 0 0 3 3 2 3 1 0 1 0

NUCLEAR ENERGY 1 0 1 2 2 1 2 5 2 4 1 1 0

SMOKING 2 3 2 0 0 0 1 1 4 3 3 2 0

WILD ANIMALS 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 7 4

MEDICINES 0 0 1 2 1 0 3 0 1 1 4 6 3

RECREATION 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 2 3 12

SCIENTISTS HAVE GIVEN US THIS LIST OF POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING…RANK IN ORDER OF CONCERN…

1 2 3 4 5 6

SEA-LEVEL RISE 1 2 6 5 2 5

CHANGING WEATHER 5 6 5 1 2 2

INCREASED STORMS 3 6 1 4 2 5

POPULATION MIGRATION 2 3 6 3 6 1

CLIMATE CHANGE 8 3 2 4 3 1

SPECIES LOSS 1 1 1 3 5 9

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS INDICATE STRONG DISAGREEMENT (1) TO STRONG AGREEMENT (4)…0 = UNSURE.

HARM TO ENVIRONMENT IS JUSTIFIED IF IT BRINGS ECONOMIC BENEFIT.

1 ) 14 2) 7 3) 4 4) 0

IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

1) 1 2) 0 3) 1 4) 20

THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO CHANGE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

1) 15 2) 9 3) 0 4) 0

NATURE IS FRAGILE AND CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN NOT TO HARM IT

1) 2 2) 2 3) 9 4) 11

TECHNOLOGY WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE UP FOR OUR ENVIRONMENTAL HARM

1) 13 2) 11 3) 0 4) 0

PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO MANAGE THE RISKS POSED BY INDUSTRIALIZATION

1) 9 2) 10 3) 2 4) 4

NATURE IS DEVINE AND SHOULD BE TREATED RESPECTFULLY

1) 2 2) 4 3) 6 4) 11

INDIVIDUAL CHOICE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT WILL COUNTER HARMS

1) 5 2) 9 3) 6 4) 3

SIMPLER LIVES / LESS TECHNOLOGY WILL BRING LESS ENVIRONMENTAL HARM

1) 2 2) 13 3) 7 4) 3

NATURE IS WILD AND SHOULD BE TAMED TO SERVE MANKIND

1) 16 2) 7 3) 1 4) 0

IT IS ALRIGHT TO SACRIFICE SPECIES TO SERVE MANKIND

1) 16 2) 6 3) 2 4) 0

WE CAN TRUST GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

1) 12 2) 10 3) 3 4) 0

WE CAN TRUST SCIENCE TO FIND THE ANSWERS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

1) 6 2) 8 3) 10 4) 0

WE CAN TRUST BUSINESS TO MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

1) 14 2) 10 3) 0 4) 0

SMALL COMMUNITIES OFFER MORE PROTECTION VS LARGE CITIES

1) 5 2) 4 3) 11 4) 3

INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS HAVE EXPLOITED THE NON-INDUSTRIALIZED

1) 8 2) 4 3) 12 4) 0

NON-INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS ARE NOT HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT

1) 10 2) 12 3) 2 4) 0

PEOPLE AFFECTED BY ENVIRONMENTAL HARMS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO IMMIGRATE

1) 11 2) 10 3) 3 4) 0