(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in the United States appear concerned about global warming, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 44 per cent of respondents think climate change is a very serious problem, while 29 per cent believe it is a somewhat serious problem.

The term global warming refers to an increase of the Earth’s average temperature. Some theories say that climate change might be the result of human-generated carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report which states that global warming has been "very likely"—or 90 per cent certain—caused by humans burning fossil fuels.

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. The U.S. has not ratified the treaty, which is due to expire in 2012.

In October 2007, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and the IPCC were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

On May 12, Arizona senator John McCain—the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party in this year’s United States election—distanced himself from his party’s official line on climate change and urged the current government to introduce a cap on carbon fuel emissions, adding, "I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto. The United States will lead and will lead with a different approach—an approach that speaks to the interests and obligation of every nation."

Polling Data

In your view, is global warming a very serious problem, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not a problem?

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,502 American adults, conducted from Apr. 23 to Apr. 27, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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