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Thread: British poll re human caused global warming ...

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default British poll re human caused global warming ...

    (snip)"The majority of the British public is still not convinced that climate change is caused by humans - and many others believe scientists are exaggerating the problem, according to an exclusive poll for The Observer.

    The results have shocked campaigners who hoped that doubts would have been silenced by a report last year by more than 2,500 scientists for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which found a 90 per cent chance that humans were the main cause of climate change and warned that drastic action was needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

    The findings come just before the release of the government's long-awaited renewable energy strategy, which aims to cut the UK's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent over the next 12 years.

    The poll, by Ipsos MORI, found widespread contradictions, with some people saying politicians were not doing enough to tackle the problem, even though they were cynical about government attempts to impose regulations or raise taxes. In a sign of the enormous task ahead for those pushing for drastic cuts to carbon emissions, many people said they did not want to restrict their lifestyles and only a small minority believe they need to make 'significant and radical' changes such as driving and flying less."(snip)


    (snip)"There is growing concern that an economic depression and rising fuel and food prices are denting public interest in environmental issues. Some environmentalists blame the public's doubts on last year's Channel 4 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, and on recent books, including one by Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, that question the consensus on climate change.

    However Professor Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, said politicians and campaigners were to blame for over-simplifying the problem by only publicising evidence to support the case. 'Things that we do know - like humans do cause climate change - are being put in doubt,' said Lomborg. 'If you're saying, "We're not going to tell you the whole truth, but we're going to ask you to pay up a lot of money," people are going to be unsure.'

    In response to the poll's findings, the Department for the Environment issued a statement: 'The IPCC... concluded the scientific evidence for climate change is clear and it is down to human activities. It is already affecting people's lives - and the impact will be much greater if we don't act now.'

    Ipsos MORI polled 1,039 adults and found that six out of 10 agreed that 'many scientific experts still question if humans are contributing to climate change', and that four out of 10 'sometimes think climate change might not be as bad as people say'. In both cases, another 20 per cent were not convinced either way. Despite this, three quarters still professed to be concerned about climate change.

    Those most worried were more likely to have a degree, be in social classes A or B, have a higher income, said Phil Downing, Ipsos MORI's head of environmental research.

    'People are broadly concerned, but not entirely convinced,' said Downing. 'Despite many attempts to broaden the environment movement, it doesn't seem to have become fully embedded as a mainstream concern,' he said.

    More than half of those polled did not have confidence in international or British political leaders to tackle climate change, but only just over a quarter think it's too late to stop it. Two thirds want the government to do more but nearly as many said they were cynical about government policies such as green taxes, which they see as 'stealth' taxes."(snip)

    from

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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Pew says otherwise. Their poll shows that 67% of Brits view it as either a great or fair amount of concern. Other nations are as follows: </p>US- 53%
    Spain - 85%

    France - 87%

    Germany- 64%

    Russia- 65%

    Japan - a whopping 93%

    India - 85%

    And even China - 61%


    There are more countries on the list and ALL of them are over 50%
    Last edited by LadyLuck; 06-23-2008 at 02:09 PM.
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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Opps! The Pew just shows level of concern by country and not if humans are causing oit but BBC says most do believe that human activity play a very large part in the problem.

    "More than 22,000 people were surveyed in 21 countries and the results show a great deal of agreement on the issue."


    "An average of 79% of respondents to the BBC survey agreed that "human activity, including industry and transportation, is a significant cause of climate change".

    Nine out of 10 people said action was necessary, with two-thirds of people going further, saying "it is necessary to take major steps starting very soon".

    In none of the countries did a majority say no action was necessary to combat climate change."
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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Oh and I think you need to fix your link as I couldn't get it to open.


    I would like to also point out that your article says that the more educated persons in your poll were the most concerned. A VERY important note, imo.


    That means more intelligent a person is the more likely they are to believe there is a problem. Which ofcourse also means the less intelligent a person is the less they are likely they are to believe it. Not a coincidence I am sure
    Last edited by LadyLuck; 06-23-2008 at 02:35 PM.
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    ^^^ lots of polls showed that Hilary would easily win her party's nomination over Barack Obama too. My point of course is that stacking up older poll results in an attempt to achieve a 'majority vote' simply doesn't hold water ... it's the most recent poll results that count. And as very recent polls on this subject in both the US and UK both show, average working people in both countries are increasingly coming to the conclusion that the increasing costs associated with combatting human based global warming are NOT something they can afford to pay without major consequences to their current standard of living / lifestyles.

    That means more intelligent a person is the more likely they are to believe there is a problem. Which ofcourse also means the less intelligent a person is the less they are likely they are to believe it. Not a coincidence I am sure
    coincidental or not, this is one case where the 'majority vote' DOES matter !

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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    ^^^ lots of polls showed that Hilary would easily win her party's nomination over Barack Obama too. My point of course is that stacking up older poll results in an attempt to achieve a 'majority vote' simply doesn't hold water ... it's the most recent poll results that count.
    LOL! You're too funny sometimes In one sentence you seem to say polls aren't accurate and then in the next that they are...so which is it?

    And if I do go find a more recent poll than my links show (from a major polling group ofcourse) that says most do think it's a problem and is caused by human activity are you going to accept it or not?

    If not, I won't bother looking.
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    ^^^ I'm saying that poll results change over time as the circumstances surrounding those being polled change - that ancient poll results mean nothing (i.e. the Hilary over Barack poll reference from the beginning of the year) - and that extremely recent poll results most accurately reflect current trends.

    In this case the current trend seems to be (based on this UK poll and a similar recent US poll discussed in another thread - ( 'lofty ideals go out the window with $4 gas prices' ) that the degree to which 'average' voters are willing to sacrifice a portion of their own standard of living / available disposable incomes in order to (supposedly) reduce human induced global warming is limited by the presence of other financial stresses ... i.e. rising gasoline prices, rising food prices, and an economy in decline as specifically mentioned in these recent polls.

    In the way of interpretation, these recent poll results in comparison to much older (and different) poll results on this subject tend to indicate that 'average' voters view the extra costs associated with (supposedly) reducing human induced global warming as a 'nicety' ... which was OK as long as it doesn't notably impact their own standard of living or lifestyle. But what was true when gas cost $2.00 and a quart of milk cost $2.00 is now no longer true when gas costs $4.00 and a quart of milk costs $5.00.

    According to these recent polls, average voters are also beginning to question both the effectiveness of use of the additional moneys collected from them for the purpose of (supposedly) reducing human induced global warming. Average voters are also starting to questioning the true motivations of the politicians who are proposing these new global warming 'taxes'.

    Again the question isn't whether you or I personally agree with the human induced global warming theory. Nor does the question involve the actual effectiveness of imposing higher environmental costs / 'carbon taxes' / alternative fuel taxes etc. in reducing global consumption of fossil fuels or reducing global emissions of pollution and/or CO2. The real point is very simply about whether or not the majority of registered voters are ready to impose new global warming related 'taxes' on themselves during the next election. Recent polls from both sides of the Atlantic now indicate that an increasing number of average voters see proposed new global warming related 'taxes' as a luxury that they can now ill afford.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 06-24-2008 at 12:20 AM.

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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Ok, got it. You only want to consider polls that support your own point of view. It's a pretty common problem with polls though. But just for sh*ts and giggles here is a June 2008 poll that says Americans do not only believe it's human activity but also do support CO2 imits as well.

    These are for the US only because I did not happen to find a more recent poll on other countries than the one I already linked to but I am sure one or more will be done in the future so we may have to re-visit the subject at a later time.



    June 2008 results for US. Show 54% agree with human activity , 52% support govt limits on CO2




    And here is one from Oct. 2007


    Most Americans blame emissions from cars and industrial plants as the primary cause of global warming and believe the United States should reduce levels even if other countries don't, a survey shows.

    Fifty-six percent of poll respondents said the phenomenon of global warming has been proven, and can be largely blamed on human endeavors, such as power plants and factories, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll.

    In comparison, 21 percent of those surveyed claimed global warming problems are caused either by natural changes or are unproven.

    Sixty-six percent of Americans believe the United States should do what it can to reduce global warming, even if other nations ignore it. This compares with 52 percent of respondents who believed that way in 2001.


    I've got another qestion for you. If Obama wins will you then feel that most voters support his views on global warming as it relates to energy?


    As for Gordon Brown, I have not done any deep research on his position on global warming but what I do know of him lends me to believe he is more on my side of this debate than yours. For example:
    Considering Brown was elected by voters does that not also indicate that those voters also lean more towards reducing CO2 as well?

    And wouldn't that mean that majority of England's voters are in more agreement than not with reducing CO2 as well?
    Last edited by LadyLuck; 06-24-2008 at 10:08 AM.
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    again your info is rather out of date ! Gordon Brown is clawing for his own political survival lately, and Brits are now betting against him (literally) in favor of the conservatives ...

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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Lol, like I said before I am not super well versed in matter regarding Gordon Brown. But I have a feeling that if Brits have turned against him it is not solely based on his global warming policy
    Even according to your link it has more to do with this part: Brown has been involved in further controversy after he narrowly won his 42 days detention terror vote.
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    But I have a feeling that if Brits have turned against him it is not solely based on his global warming policy
    very true ... Brit's also don't like Brown's 'tax and spend' policies. They particularly don't like his advocacy of 'stealth' taxes, and his addition of large numbers of new public sector jobs.



    For some strange reason, it seems that the politicians who advocate the strongest global warming countermeasures are also subscribers of the big government 'tax and spend' school !

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    Veteran Member LadyLuck's Avatar
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    For some strange reason, it seems that the politicians who advocate the strongest global warming countermeasures are also subscribers of the big government 'tax and spend' school !
    LOL! I could make all kinds of policy comparisons about conservatives too but I will refrain because as of now anyway this topic seems to have run it's course.
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    as of now anyway this topic seems to have run it's course.
    Actually, the case can be made that this topic is 'changing course' ... as more and more average people living in countries proposing expensive countermeasures to human induced global warming are deciding that such countermeasures are a much lower personal priority than buying gasoline or food or making their next mortgage payment as the economy continues to worsen.

  14. #14
    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: British poll re human caused global warming ...

    How many people think the world was created in seven days? Or that the sun revolves around the earth? Or that WMDs were found in Iraq? Popular poll results show the effects of public relations, not any scientific verity.

    How about a poll question like this: "If we remove trillions of tons of carbon from underground and scatter it into the atmosphere, will it have an effect?" We might get different results, but still with no scientific validity.

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