2 Big Problems with U.S. Public Opinion on Global Warming

2 Big Problems with U.S. Public Opinion on Global Warming

(Survey by World Economic Forum at Davos/2020 Meeting)

A survey* of 10,000 members of the public from 30 countries yields interesting and troubling data about opinions on "What causes global warming" and "How much to you trust scientists' claims about global warming"?

From the chart below, 9% of North Americans claim "global warming does not exist" and 32% claim the current global warming is "the result of natural causes."  

That leaves only 59% of North Americans who say global warming is "caused by human activity."  North America is the 2nd highest proportion of "climate deniers" among the nine regions of the world.

"For the first time in the history of the Global Risks Perception Survey, environmental concerns dominate the top long-term risks by likelihood among members of the World Economic Forum’s multi-stakeholder community; three of the top five risks by impact are also environmental (see Figure I, The Evolving Risks Landscape 2007–2020). “Failure of climate change mitigation and adaption” is the number one risk by impact and number two by likelihood over the next 10 years, according to our survey. Members of the Global Shapers Community—the Forum’s younger constituents—show even more concern, ranking environmental issues as the top risks in both the short and long terms."
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From figure below, U.S. public's trust in "what scientists say about the environment" (45%) ranks 4th lowest among the 30 surveyed nations.

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*From the World Economic Forum's "The Global RisksReport 2020." Under advisement by National University of Singapore, University of Oxford and University of Pennsylvania