(04/26/10) -

Americans and Britons Becoming More Skeptical of Climate Change

Majority of Canadians say global warming is mostly caused by emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities.

Majority of Canadians say global warming is mostly caused by emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities.

While a majority of Canadians believe global warming is caused by man, people in the United States and Britain are becoming more skeptical about climate change, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of representative national samples, almost three-in-five Canadians (58%) say global warming is a fact and is mostly caused by emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities. This view is shared by about two-in-five Americans (41%) and Britons (38%).

One-in-four Britons (26%), 20 per cent of Americans and 17 per cent of Canadians think global warming is a fact and is mostly caused by natural changes.

Finally, one-in-four Britons (27%) and Americans (25%) and 18 per cent of Canadians think global warming is a theory that has not yet been proven.

The proportion of Canadians who believe global warming is an unproven theory has remained stable since November 2009.

However, Americans and Britons have gradually become more doubtful about climate change. In both countries, the proportion of respondents who brand global warming as an unproven theory has increased by six points since November.

Environment and the Economy

A large proportion of Canadians (63%) think it is more important to protect the environment, even at the risk of hampering economic growth, while 18 per cent would prefer to foster economic growth, even at the risk of damaging the environment.

Almost half of Britons would rather protect the environment (46%) than foster economic growth (29%). Americans are closely divided on this issue (40% to 34%).

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From April 6 to April 12, 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,006 Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panellists, 1,005 American adults who are Springboard America panellists, and 2,006 British adults who are Springboard UK panellists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1% for Canada and the United States, and 2.2 per cent for Great Britain. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Canada, the US and Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.