In the past
posts I have mostly talked about the physical side of extreme weather, examining
if there is a relationship between climate change and extreme weather. But something
that is equally important is finding out what the public believes. When there
is a relationship between climate change and extreme weather but the public
denies this relationship and elect politicians who don’t undertake any action
all the research has been done for nothing. In this post all will take about
the question if the public believes that there is a relationship between
extreme weather and climate change. I will use a study done by Yale University
and the George Mason University. The study is called Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the
American Mind. For this study from 2012
the researchers from both the universities did interviews with 1,008 adults
from the USA about how they see the weather and the climate and the
relationship between them. They did this with questionnaires. In this post I
will talk about some questions they ask that are important for my blog. One important
question they ask if (extreme) weather is an important subject for them.
For 60% of
the Americans is weather something that matters to them. Only 21% does not have
an interest in the subject. There is a lot of interest in the weather and the
changes in it. But a more important question is of course if the Americans
think that the weather has been worse than before.
A majority of
the Americans believe that the weather has been worse in the past years. Only a
tiny minority says that the weather has become much better. Most of the
Americans agree with the fact that the weather has become worse, extreme
weather occurs more frequent and more severe. The Americans say that extreme
weather events, especially does associated the a warming climate are occurring more
often.
Click on the image for a larger version
But the
events are more common in the USA according to the opinion of the American
public but not much more common. Only between 14 and 20 percent say that an
event is much more common. But the group that says that it is much less common
is only between 4 and 7 percent.
There are
difference between the different regions in the USA but all the regions have
very different climates and weather types and all the regions. In the Northeast and the
Midwest are very heavy rainstorms more common in the perception of the American
public and in the South and the West are droughts more common. They also say
that these extreme events are having an effect in their local area.
The largest
group still says that there is no difference in the amount of problems that extreme weather
events caused. But a large minority says that there has been a change and that
extreme weather events now cause more problems than before. There is again some
difference between the different regions in the USA.
The
percentage of Americans that have personally experienced extreme weather is
quite high. 60% of the respondents say that they have experienced extreme high
winds, 42% has personally experienced a heat wave and 49% has experienced a
extreme rain storm. They also personally know people how were affected by
extreme weather events.
But the
most important question for my blog is of course if the Americans believe that
there a relationship between extreme weather and climate change.
There is a
large majority that says that there is a relationship between the weather and
global warming. 69% believes that there is a relationship while only 30% does
not see a relationship. This percentage is not 100 in total.
The researchers
try to be specific and ask the respondents if there is a relationship between a
specific extreme weather event and climate change.
Most Americans
see a relationship between specific events and global warming. But most
Americans only agree somewhat, only between 16 and 25 percent of the people
agree strongly. And still around one third does not agree with the statement. But
the people who agree make up around 2/3 of the total number of respondents. Again
there are differences between the different USA regions. This research shows
that the weather is important in the daily life of Americans and that Americans
say that the weather has become worse in the last years. Many Americans have personal
experience with extreme weather and know Also other persons personally who were
affected by extreme weather events. There is majority in the American society
that links extreme weather with climate change but they don´t agree strongly
with the statement and there is a group of around 12% that strongly disagrees with
any relationship between extreme weather and climate change.
Leiserowitz,
A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2012) Extreme Weather,
Climate
& Preparedness in the American Mind. Yale
University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate
Change Communication.
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