Survey shows terrorism, like in San Bernardino, Calif., worry Americans more than global warming.America’s top concern is global terrorism, and not global warming. That’s according to a new global survey released this week showing nearly 91 percent of Americans do not believe global warming is very serious issue. This runs counter to President Obama’s belief that it is the biggest threat facing the U.S. The president even said the Paris Climate Talks—held in early December 2015—were a powerful rebuke to ISIS, but that message didn’t gain any traction with the poll’s respondents, or with Americans.
The results of this poll also come about one-and-a-half months after nations gathered in Paris and agreed to set limits on CO2 emissions. The poll, conducted by YouGov, shows that Americans view global warming as not being a “serious” or “very serious” issue. Americans think, by a wide margin, that ‘global terrorism’ was the country’s biggest problem (when the poll was taken).
This is consistent with recent surveys by Gallup (here and here) and Pew Research that show global warming ranks dead last among Americans. According to YouGov, “samples in 17 countries throughout Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia were asked during November ‚Äì December 2015 to say which of nine issues facing the world they consider to be a serious issue, and then which one they consider to be the most serious.”
Ironically, Saudi Arabia, which regularly sees temps in the triple digits due to its geographic location, ranks global warming dead last as a concern. Britain is also among the least concerned about global warming as well. The economy and global terrorism were the most pressing matters of the 18,000 online respondents who hailed from 17 countries.
The poll asked online respondents if they thought an issue was either serious or very serious. They then combined the two and averaged the results. YouGov says “its opinion polls are most accurate when compared to its competitors and in particular that its online methodology is more accurate than traditional polling methods.” That means people without access to the Internet, or not asked to participate in the online poll, are not surveyed.
The poll also took place from Nov. to Dec., amidst the Paris terrorist attacks, the San Bernardino, Calif., terror attacks, and the Paris Climate Talks. After the talks, “195 countries agreed to place limits on CO2 emissions and limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” The Paris agreement is not legally binding and does nothing to slow China and India’s CO2 output.
The deal will “come into force after 2020 through a combination of incentives and voluntary measures, and it includes $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries.” The United States, which recently passed a trillion dollar spending spill, earmarked billions of dollars for green projects.
To get the spending bill passed, congress didn’t specify how this “green” money could to be spent. That means the president can shunt millions of taxpayer dollars into the UN’s green slush fund, which doles out money to developing countries affected by “extreme weather” and for not using fossil fuels.
