Americans are more critaical of global climate change than residents of any other nation in the world, according to a new poll.
Ipsos Mori, a polling company based in Britain, took the survey, measuring opinions of people around the world concerning anthropogenic warming of the Earth.
The Global Trends Survey asked questions of 16,000 people in 20 countries around the world during September and October 2013.
Volunteers were asked whether or not they agreed with the statement "The climate change we are currently seeing is largely the result of human activity."
Only 54 percent of Americans in the survey voiced their opinion that they agreed with the statement. The survey found 67 percent of Russians agreed with that general statement, as did 79 out of every 100 Brazilians, and 80 percent of people from India. The highest percentage of respondents siding with that statement were found in China, were 93 percent of people affirming the notion.
The opposite question was also asked of those taking part in the survey. Managers inquired if natural cycles are responsible for rising global temperatures. Out of every 100 Americans n the survey, 52 percent stated agreement with this belief. Just 35 percent disagreed with this idea, the lowest of any nation. South Korea was home to those with the greatest level of disagreement with the idea, at 69 percent, while just 22 out of every 100 Japanese believe natural causes are behind global warming.
Ipsos Mori asked volunteers to answer a total of eight questions about the environment, including climate change, recycling and attitudes about the global environment.
One question measured attitudes of respondents toward researchers conducting environmental research. Respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement that "Even the scientists don't really know what they are talking about on environmental issues." For this question, people from China were shown to be the most skeptical of scientists. Three out of four volunteers there stated their agreement with the statement. Just 19 percent disagreed with the notion. Swedish respondents were the most trusting of scientists, showing 60 percent disagreement with the idea. Only 19 percent stated their belief that scientists don't know what they are talking about on environmental issues. In the United States, people were tied, with 43 percent of the public each trusting - and distrusting - researchers on the environment.
Recycling was another issue where Chinese were far ahead of Americans. There, 92 percent of respondents said they recycle as much as possible, while just six percent do not. In the United States, 76 out of of every hundred people said they recycle whenever possible, while 18 percent throw recyclable materials in the trash. The worst country for recycling was found to be Russia, where only six of ten people recycle materials, and one-quarter do not take part in programs.
Full details are available on the Ipsos Mori Web site.
