 |
|
| Politics Forum Index » Europe Politics Forum » Sadly, Bush's legacy lives on. Fewer Americans... |
|
Page 1 of 1 |
|
| Author |
Message |
| Tim Howard... |
 Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:59 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
I guess all those years of the Bush administration's "skepticism" have
paid off. Also it is probably one of the indirect consequences of the
terrible economic mess Bush put us in; people tend to deprioritize
environmental issues when they are concerned with their economic situation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll: Fewer in U.S. believe in global warming
By DINA CAPPIELLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oct. 22, 2009, 6:43PM
WASHINGTON — Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming. Just
57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer,
down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of
people who believe pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures to
rise has also taken a dip, even as the U.S. and world forums gear up for
possible action against climate change.
In a poll of 1,500 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People &
the Press, released Thursday, the number of people saying there is
strong scientific evidence that the Earth has gotten warmer over the
past few decades is down from 71 percent in April of last year and from
77 percent when Pew started asking the question in 2006. The number of
people who see the situation as a serious problem also has declined.
The steepest drop has occurred during the past year, as Congress and the
Obama administration have taken steps to control heat-trapping emissions
for the first time and international negotiations for a new treaty to
slow global warming have been under way. At the same time, there has
been mounting scientific evidence of climate change — from melting ice
caps to the world's oceans hitting the highest monthly recorded
temperatures this summer.
The poll was released a day after 18 scientific organizations wrote
Congress to reaffirm the consensus behind global warming. A federal
government report Thursday found that global warming is upsetting the
Arctic's thermostat.
Only about a third, or 36 percent of the respondents, feel that human
activities — such as pollution from power plants, factories and
automobiles — are behind a temperature increase. That's down from 47
percent from 2006 through last year's poll.
"The priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns
and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy and
because of the focus on other things," suggested Andrew Kohut, the
director of the research center, which conducted the poll from Sept. 30
to Oct. 4. "When the focus is on other things, people forget and see
these issues as less grave."
Andrew Weaver, a professor of climate analysis at the University of
Victoria in British Columbia, said politics could be drowning out
scientific awareness.
"It's a combination of poor communication by scientists, a lousy summer
in the Eastern United States, people mixing up weather and climate and a
full-court press by public relations firms and lobby groups trying to
instill a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the public," he said.
Political breakdowns in the survey underscore how tough it could be to
enact a law limiting pollution emissions blamed for warming. While
three-quarters of Democrats believe the evidence of a warming planet is
solid, and nearly half believe the problem is serious, far fewer
conservative and moderate Democrats see the problem as grave.
Fifty-seven percent of Republicans say there is no solid evidence of
global warming, up from 31 percent in early 2007.
Though there are exceptions, the vast majority of scientists agree that
global warming is occurring and that the primary cause is a buildup of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels,
such as oil and coal.
Jane Lubchenco, head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, told a business group meeting at the White House
Thursday: "The science is pretty clear that the climate challenge before
us is very real. We're already seeing impacts of climate change in our
own backyards."
Despite misgivings about the science, half the respondents still say
they support limits on greenhouse gases, even if they could lead to
higher energy prices. And a majority — 56 percent — feel the United
States should join other countries in setting standards to address
global climate change. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Daniel... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:02 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 25, 12:59 am, Tim Howard <tim.how... at (no spam) suddenlink.net> wrote:
Quote: I guess all those years of the Bush administration's "skepticism" have
paid off. Also it is probably one of the indirect consequences of the
terrible economic mess Bush put us in; people tend to deprioritize
environmental issues when they are concerned with their economic situation.
I would have to figure that more and more Americans are realizing that
junk science was used to propogate the global warming lie. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| cjt... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:16 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Daniel wrote:
Quote: On Oct 25, 12:59 am, Tim Howard <tim.how... at (no spam) suddenlink.net> wrote:
I guess all those years of the Bush administration's "skepticism" have
paid off. Also it is probably one of the indirect consequences of the
terrible economic mess Bush put us in; people tend to deprioritize
environmental issues when they are concerned with their economic situation.
I would have to figure that more and more Americans are realizing that
junk science was used to propogate the global warming lie.
QED |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Tim Howard... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:01 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
cjt wrote:
Quote: Daniel wrote:
On Oct 25, 12:59 am, Tim Howard <tim.how... at (no spam) suddenlink.net> wrote:
I guess all those years of the Bush administration's "skepticism" have
paid off. Also it is probably one of the indirect consequences of the
terrible economic mess Bush put us in; people tend to deprioritize
environmental issues when they are concerned with their economic
situation.
I would have to figure that more and more Americans are realizing that
junk science was used to propogate the global warming lie.
QED
Just look at how much ice is melting from the poles before you say that.
Earth's temperature 8th-warmest on record so far in 2009
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The Earth's temperature from January-March 2009 was the 8th-warmest on
record, according to data released Thursday from the National Climatic
Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The global temperature of 55.04 degrees
for the year's first three months was almost a full degree above the
20th-century average of 54.1 degrees.
This continues a decades-long trend of warmer-than-average temperatures.
If the warming pattern persists throughout the remainder of the year, it
will mark the 33rd consecutive year of above-average global
temperatures. The Earth's temperature record dates back to 1880.
The data center reports that warmer-than-average conditions were
measured in January-March across most of the land areas of the world,
especially in central Asia, central Africa, Europe, and south-central
North America, as seen on this map. The areas with cooler-than-average
temperatures include parts of Alaska, southern Canada, northern
Australia, and central and eastern Russia.
For March, the globe was the 10th-warmest since records began, with a
temperature of 55.87 degrees, which is about a degree above the
20th-century average of 54.9 degrees. The warmest above-average
temperatures during March 2009 were recorded across Mexico, Europe, most
of Asia, South America, and the contiguous USA. Cooler-than-average
temperatures occurred across north-central and northwestern USA,
southern Canada, southern Alaska, and central Russia.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, some encouraging news came in from the
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). In a study using
climate models, scientists reported that the threat of global warming
can still be greatly reduced if the world's nations cut emissions of
heat-trapping greenhouse gases by 70% this century.
Carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere have increased from
about 284 parts per million (in the pre-industrial era) to more than 380
ppm today. This study assumed that the globe's CO2 levels could be
maintained at 450 ppm through the century, if the world quickly adapts
conservation practices and new green technologies to cut emissions
dramatically.
If unchecked and kept at their current levels, atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels in the atmosphere could skyrocket to 750 ppm by 2100.
While global temperatures would continue to rise, the most dangerous
potential aspects of climate change, including massive losses of Arctic
sea ice and permafrost and significant sea-level rise, could be
partially avoided.
The study will be published next week in the journal Geophysical
Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
"This research indicates that we can no longer avoid significant warming
during this century," says NCAR scientist Warren Washington, the study's
lead author. "But if the world were to implement this level of emission
cuts, we could stabilize the threat of climate change and avoid catastrophe. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:25 am
|
|