The rise of social media and its effects on etiquette

¶ … Global Warming

What are the effects of global warming that scientists can identify today? This is an important question to be taken into account as humans struggle to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere -- the principal cause of climate change. Given the overwhelming scientific evidence of climate change, what are the results of public opinion polls that test the views of citizens on this issue? How many people firmly accept the data presented on climate change? And for those who do not accept the data, what media are influencing their views on climate change? These issues will be covered in this paper.

Brief Review of Global Warming Science: Prior to delving into public opinion about climate change, a few facts from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are relevant. The IPCC was formed in 1988 as 194 nations, in joint cooperative effort, offered the work of their top scientists in an effort to consolidate available empirical data on climate change. In November, 2010, the Chairman of IPCC, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, stated that "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea levels" (IPCC). The chairman stated that "Approximately 20 to 30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperatures exceed 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius" (IPCC).

U.S. Public Opinion Polls on Climate Change: The Pew Research Center Poll is a respected fact-gathering organization that conducts polling on a number of social, political and other issues. Pew does not make policy recommendations, it just publishes research. Pew asked the question (October, 2010), "In your view, is global warming a very serious problem, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not a problem?" Thirty-two percent said, "very serious"; 31% said "somewhat serious"; 16% said "not too serious"; 18% said "not a problem"; and 3% had no answer. Pew's second question, "Do you think global warming is a problem that requires immediate government action, or don't you think it requires immediate government action?" solicited these responses: 59% said "yes it is a problem that requires immediate action"; 37% replied "no, don't think it requires immediate action"; and 4% "don't know." This survey reached 2,251 adults on both cell phones and landlines.

Pew has published the changes in public opinion over the past five years regarding global warming issues. For example, to the question, "Is there solid evidence the earth is warming"? In July 2006 79% said "yes"; in January 2007, 77% said "yes"; in April 2008, 71% said "yes"; in October 2009, 57% said "yes"; and in October 2010, 59% said "yes" (PEW).

As to the question, "How serious a problem?" is global warming, those numbers have also been slipping over the years. In 2006, 43% said "yes" to "very serious"; in 2007, 45% said "yes" to "very serious"; in 2008, 44% said "yes" to "very serious"; in 2009, 35% said "yes" to "very serious"; and in 2010, 32% said "yes" to "very serious" (PEW).

In their October press release, the PEW organization provided narrative to explain how the data breaks down as far as political party. The public is "divided" when it comes to the question of whether scientists themselves agree that human activity is the cause of global warming. Forty-four percent say scientists agree and 44% say scientists do not agree on the data regarding global warming. That data is radically different from what PEW learned in July, 2006, when 59% of those polled said scientists agree on global warming and only 29% said scientists do not agree.

"A substantial majority of Democrats (79%) say there is solid evidence" that the average temperature on the planet has been rising recently, and 53% of Democrats believe the warming is caused by human activity, PEW continues. But among Republicans, just 38% agree with the statement that the earth is actually warming up and only 16% agree that it is warming because of human activity. About half of the Republicans surveyed (53%) say there "is no solid evidence of warming," PEW reports.

Would the results be different if the questions were worded differently? I do not believe so; these questions are succinct and well thought out.

Conclusion: One good question for this paper is, why have Americans in consistently fewer numbers accepted that global warming is a real problem? Notwithstanding the scientific data that has been presented through some media over the years, he PEW poll shows a dramatic decline in the number of Americans who are convinced that global warming presents a significant threat.