Americans still deeply divided on climate change: poll

Americans are still deeply divided on the causes and cures of climate change and these differences extend to how much they can trust information from climate scientists and their research, according to a new poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

Specifically, the survey of more than 1,500 U.S. adults revealed "wide political divides" between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in views of climate-related matters.

"Liberal Democrats are especially likely to see scientists and their research in a positive light, while conservative Republicans are considerably more skeptical of climate scientists' information, understanding and research findings on climate issues," the survey said.

For example, 54 percent of liberal Democrats said climate scientists' understand the causes of climate change very well, while only 11 percent of conservative Republicans and 19 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans believe that.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of liberal Democrats believed there is widespread consensus among climate scientists about the causes of global warming, with only 16 percent of conservative Republicans said the same.

Correspondingly, liberal Democrats were especially likely to believe that climate change will bring harms to the environment.

Among this group, about six-in-ten said climate change will very likely bring more droughts, storms that are more severe, harm to animals and plant life, and damage to shorelines from rising sea levels.

By contrast, no more than about two-in-ten conservative Republicans considered any of these potential harms to be "very likely" and about half said each is either "not too" or "not at all" likely to occur.

The poll also found liberal Democrats were much more inclined to believe that both policy and individual actions can be effective in addressing climate change.

For instance, 76 percent of liberal Democrats said power plant emission restrictions can make a big difference, while 29 percent of conservative Republicans said the same, a difference of 47-percentage points.

When it came to an international agreement to limit carbon emissions, 71 percent of liberal Democrats and 27 percent of conservative Republicans said this can make a big difference, a gap of 44-percentage points.

At the same time, most Americans supported giving scientists a seat at the policy-making table, and there was strong bipartisan support for expanding solar and wind energy production.

The survey also found some 36 percent of Americans are deeply concerned about climate issues. This group was composed primarily of Democrats (72 percent), but roughly a quarter of the group (24 percent) was Republican.

Overall, it showed that a person's level of general scientific literacy did not strongly influence opinion on climate issues in the U.S.

"The role of science knowledge in people's beliefs about climate matters varies and where a relationship occurs, it is complex," Cary Funk, lead author and associate director of research at Pew Research Center, said in a statement.

"For example, Democrats with high science knowledge are especially likely to believe the Earth is warming due to human activity, to see scientists as having a firm understanding of climate change, and to trust climate scientists' information about the causes of climate change. But Republicans with higher science knowledge are no more or less likely to hold these beliefs." Enditem