Scare Tactics

A new survey released this week reports that 50% of Americans say they're personally worried about global warming. The survey was conducted in July by Yale University, Gallup and the ClearVision Institute. The survey also found that 62% of those polled think that life on Earth will continue without major disruptions only if society takes immediate and drastic action to reduce global warming, while 68% support a new international treaty requiring the USA to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide 90% by the year 2050. Also, 40% report that a presidential candidate’s position on the issue will strongly influence how they vote.

"One of the most surprising findings was the growing sense of urgency," said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change and the study’s principal investigator. "Nearly half of Americans now believe that global warming is either already having dangerous impacts on people around the world or will in the next 10 years -- a 20-percentage-point increase since 2004. These results indicate a sea change in public opinion."

• JJ Commentary: Surprising? Not with the constant drumbeat of the media shaping public opinion. The New World (Dis)Order folks want global issues that require global solutions leading to global governance. There is still no concrete evidence that the warming is human caused as opposed to being another of nature’s ongoing cycles.