Global warming awareness: even in America

An interesting, more 'real world' comparison to my "Greatest Fears" straw poll. There is movement at the station: :::[Blog For Clean Air]

59% [of Americans] say climate change warrants "some action" or "immediate" steps, up from 51% in 1999

Wall St. Journal/NBC poll

I wondered whether this figure is much lower than for the rest of the world. I googled up a BBC report of the Pew Global Attitudes Project of 17,000 people in 15 countries, including the US, between 31 March and 14 May 2006. :::[BBC]

The survey found concern over bird flu was largely confined to Asia, while two-thirds of people surveyed in each country said they were worried by global warming.

Concern over the greenhouse effect was highest in India and Japan and lowest in the US and China.

The survey interviewed people in China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the US.

Margin of error: two to six percentage points.

Not that much lower; 59% versus 66.6%. The rest of the Pew findings were a bit scalding for the US with respect to the rest of the world's attitudes to them at the moment, and that seems to be about Iraq, but I am sure that some must come from the fact that the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitting nation refuses to engage in meaningful emissions management. If so, a reversal will redeem US's international goodwill, always good for business. Iraq the 'issue' will fade one day, although I'm not brave enough to predict when.

But global warming is only going to get worse.

By showing genuine leadership on climate change now, they won't squander that leadership in generations to come.

global warning climate change pandemic bird flu H5N1 terrorism war on terror WoT iraq