If you've been feeling a little sheepish about being American lately, it's probably because it's hard to deny the facts: we've been ranked the last in healthcare among developed nations, but first among doubters of evolution. Now, there's another thing to add to our repertoire: more Americans doubt climate change than people in 19 other countries, including people in Australia, South Africa, and South Korea.
A new worldwide Ipsos MORI poll shows that people in the United States ranked last among believers in global warming, followed closely by Great Britain and Australia.
The poll group consisted of 16,000 adults. 57% of Americans disagreed with the statement "We are heading for environmental disaster unless we change our habits quickly," which was the highest amount of disagreement by country. More Americans agree with the statement than disagree, but that is still a troubling statistic. In contrast 91% of Chinese people agreed with the statement.
About 32% of Americans disagreed with the statement "The climate change we are currently seeing is largely the result of human activity," the highest number of doubters in the poll group. Australia was not far behind. This is troubling because just this week, Professor Shaun Lovejoy published a paper in which he used statistics of global weather patterns for the past 125 years to prove with a 99 percent degree of certainty that the global warming we're experiencing now is caused by carbon dioxide emissions created by men.
The study noted that since this was an online poll, in developing countries where not everyone has access to the Internet, the poll sample represented more affluent people than the general population. However, of those polled, Americans ranked worst in accepting man-made global warming as a scientific fact.
The paper speculated about how the best way to effect global change in our habits to attempt to halt global warming. The paper said that, "With the rise of Nest and Hive in western markets, it remains to be seen whether the tipping point lies between consumers changing their habits, or governments enforcing or 'nudging' behaviours, although Ipsos MORI's view is that some heavyweight 'shoving' may be needed!"
Ben Page, the chief executive of Ipsos MORI, the company which created the poll, speculated that a possible reason for the gap in belief among the US and China is because in China, all residents are affected by environmental pollution, whereas in the United States, it's easier to ignore the matter. "In many surveys in China, environment is the top concern," Page said. "In contrast, in the west, it's a long way down the list behind the economy and crime."
