Public Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change

Dr. Jon Krosnick, a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment, is a social psychologist who studies how the American public's beliefs and attitudes regarding environmental policy issues form, change over time, and influence peoples's behavior. His most recent work offers some important clarity to what has become a confusing public discourse, how Americans feel about global warming and climate change, and what they feel should be done about it.

Making sense of the noise

The last couple years have seemed full of claims that the science behind global warming and climate change is rife with "sloppy" and "half-baked" research, conniving scientists trying to shut out dissenting voices, and "cap-and-tax" schemes that will only empty your pockets and hurt the economy. You may have heard that "The science just isn't there yet," or that "there are still considerable doubts about whether the observed changes are man-made." You may have even heard that the percentage of the population that believe global warming is real and happening is significantly declining.

If you suspect that the noise being generated by those who are skeptical of climate change has grown louder and louder, that would be an accurate observation. But are assertions that a majority of Americans do not believe global warming and climate change are indeed happening actually true?

A clearer look at public opinion

If you are performing the surveys correctly, and being precise with your language to eliminate ambiguity, you'll more than likely find what Dr. Jon Krosnick has been telling us for several years: a substantially large majority of Americans DO believe climate change is occurring AND they think both government and businesses should be doing something about it.

In his most recent work published this last August, Dr. Krosnick conducted surveys to assess public attitudes about global warming and climate change in three states: Maine, Massachusets, and Florida. He then compared the results of those findings to prior surveys conducted in the same states during the last 5 years, as well with a national survey conducted in June of this year (2010).

He found that the three states closely resembled each other and the nation in that large majorities of the population believe global warming is happening, is human caused, will be problematic for the United States and the world, and should be addressed by both government and business.

The results also show that while Americans are unsure of gas and utility tax schemes as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, large majorities supported tax incentives and rebates for investments in renewable energy as well as carbon capture and storage. They also doubt that taking action will have a negative impact on the economy, and expect both government and business to tackle the issue.

So, why all the confusion?

According to Dr. Krosnick's national survey in June 2010, the cooler seasonal variations of the last two years increased doubts among skeptics and people with low-trust in climate scientists, making that minority more vocal. "Our surveys reveal a small decline in the proportion of people who believe global warming has been happening, from 84 percent in 2007 to 74 percent today," Krosnick says on the Woods Institute website. "Statistical analysis of our data revealed that this decline is attributable to perceptions of recent weather changes by the minority of Americans who have been skeptical about climate scientists."

Dr. Krosnick also points out that this finding is significant since it is tied to weather patterns over the last two years, and is likely to be temporary as temperatures go back up again (as they have this year) and some of the skeptical voices "rejoin the large majority who still think warming is real."

Another consideration is the role of featuring skeptics (and deniers) in the news media, and their increasing vocality across multiple media platforms and outlets. Although some media outlets have presented side by side perspectives to present both sides of an issue and increase objectivity and fairness, in the case of climate change, the majority attitude among scientists is overwhelmingly accepting of the view that climate change is occurring. By presenting scientists who accept that climate change is occurring and skeptics side by side, viewers' perception of a disagreement within the scientific community increases, even though that is a false representation of the broader consensus.

It is a safe bet that Dr. Krosnick is not the only one who is aware of that finding.

The important take-away

Global warming and climate change is not as taboo as you may think, nor is it as controversial as some might want you to believe. Indeed, large majorities believe it is occurring, think we should be doing something about it, and don't think we will adversely impact the economy or jobs by doing so. It is our role to offer clarity to the public discourse surrounding the issue, drown out the disproportional "noise" created by skeptics, and interpret the specifics with sound science, clear language, and consistently firm but respectful messaging.

In other words: "This is real, we know you care about it and want to do something, so lets do it."

For more information

See The Ocean Projects FAQ on American public opinions surrounding climate change and the ocean, and some case studies regarding how aquariums are using the research.

For more information about Dr. Krosnick's research, visit his research page at the Woods Institute website.