14 DAY TRIAL // Many politicians, lobby groups and skeptics have tried over the past few months to downplay the importance of global warming, both in terms of reach and intensity. But new data from a recently-published report show that the majority of people are capable of discerning the truth from commercial interest, and remain convinced that their everyday actions influence the environment. The public's perception on global warming and climate change has remained largely unchanged following recent controversies, scientists at the Cardiff University in the United Kingdom reveal.
“Avoiding dangerous climate change is one of the most urgent environmental policy issues, and it appears increasingly likely that societies must undergo major transformations in order to avoid the worst of its potential impacts. […] Achieving tough emissions reduction goals will necessitate significant changes to the ways we both produce and use energy: in particular a transition to lower carbon energy sources, the reconfiguration of supply networks, and changes to behaviour so as to decrease individual and community energy consumption,” the team writes in its paper. The group was led by Cardiff psychologist Nick Pidgeon.
Although people see through various interests trying to manipulate the truths of global warming to their own advantage, in the United Kingdom the number of those who believe in climate change has dropped from 91 percent to 78 percent, over the past five years. The same trend is reflected in a research paper produced by researchers at the Stanford University. The American team found that 74 percent of US citizens believe in global warming now, as opposed to 84 percent in 2007. The new investigation, conducted after the failed Copenhagen Summit, and the so-called “ClimateGate” scandal, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
“Public perceptions and attitudes are critically important to these challenges. On the supply side, public acceptance of new and innovative energy facilities such as power stations and new grid infrastructure will play a key role. On the demand side, perceptions of the need to take mitigating action against climate change, and of the ability to act on this, will be key precursors to personal behavior change and compliance with wider policies aimed to motivate such changes,” the Cardiff group adds.