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Global Warming, Terrorism Are Top Worries
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in France are concerned about climate change, according to a poll by Harris Interactive for France 24. 54 per cent of respondents believe global warming is one of the most worrying challenges facing the planet today.
In Britain, Germany and Italy, roughly 40 per cent of respondents also mention climate change, but only 33 per cent of Spaniards and 30 per cent of Americans concur. In the United States, terrorism is the top concern with 49 per cent.
Religious fanaticism is a worry for roughly four-in-ten respondents in the five European nations surveyed. A quarter of Americans believe wars are a global challenge as well, and 20 per cent mention nuclear proliferation.
In 1998, several countries agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, a proposed amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The agreement commits nations to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. All members of the European Union (EU) have ratified the protocol. The U.S. signed the treaty but has not ratified it.
On Mar. 11, 2004, a series of explosions in one of Madrid's main railway stations, as well as three commuter trains, killed 190 people. A group allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility, saying the attacks were prepared in retaliation for Spain's support of the United States-led coalition effort in Iraq.
On Jul. 7, 2005, four blasts in London killed at least 53 people and injured 700 more. Investigators say three British nationals of Pakistani descent and a Jamaican-born man were responsible for the explosions at three underground stations and a double-decker bus. Authorities believe the event was a coordinated suicide bombing, the first to ever occur in Western Europe.
Polling Data
From the following list of challenges the planet is facing today, please indicate which two personally concern you the most?
BRI | FRA | GER | ITA | ESP | USA | |
Global warming | 40% | 54% | 41% | 39% | 33% | 30% |
Religious fanaticism | 39% | 43% | 42% | 40% | 39% | 29% |
Terrorism | 43% | 26% | 38% | 37% | 29% | 49% |
Viruses, epidemics | 15% | 17% | 12% | 16% | 13% | 23% |
Wars | 20% | 15% | 21% | 23% | 22% | 25% |
Famine | 9% | 11% | 11% | 5% | 25% | 7% |
Economic North-South divide | 3% | 11% | 3% | 17% | 20% | 2% |
Globalization | 5% | 10% | 12% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
Nuclear proliferation | 11% | 8% | 14% | 13% | 11% | 20% |
Overpopulation | 15% | 6% | 15% | 6% | 4% | 11% |
Source: Harris Interactive / France 24
Methodology: Online interviews with 12,570 adults in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States, conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9, 2006. No margin of error was provided.