December 13, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in the United States believe climate change is already a serious environmental concern, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 55 per cent of respondents think global warming is causing a serious impact now, up six points since April.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in the United States believe climate change is already a serious environmental concern, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 55 per cent of respondents think global warming is causing a serious impact now, up six points since April.

Conversely, 27 per cent of respondents believe the effects of global warming will only be visible in the future, and 13 per cent think the phenomenon will have no serious impact on the planet at all. Two per cent of respondents say climate change does not exist.

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. Earlier this year, 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.

On Oct. 12, 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 Dec. 10, as he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his militancy against global warming, Gore urged his country and China to join forces and combat the effects of pollution together, saying, "Both countries should stop using the other’s behaviour as an excuse for stalemate and instead develop an agenda for mutual survival in a shared global environment. (...) It should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest (carbon dioxide) emitters, and most of all my own country, that will need to make the boldest moves."

Polling Data

Do you think global warming is an environmental problem that is causing a serious impact now, or do you think the impact of global warming won’t happen until sometime in the future, or do you think global warming won’t have a serious impact at all?

	Dec. 2007	Oct. 2007	Apr. 2007
Impact now	55%	52%	49%
Impact in the future	27%	28%	36%
No serious impact	13%	13%	11%
Doesn’t exist	2%	2%	1%
Not sure	5%	5%	4%

Source: New York Times / CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,133 American adults, conducted from Dec. 5 to Dec. 9, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.