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Nine in 10 rural Australians feeling effects of climate change: poll

Xinhua, January 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

Nine in 10 rural Australians believe they are feeling the greater effects of climate change, the results of a Climate Institute poll said on Monday.

The survey, which polled Australians from both cities and rural regions, also found that citizens were concerned that climate change would continue to have a bigger impact on day-to-day life, with 82 percent of the 2,000 people polled voicing concern about the risk of droughts and floods, while 78 percent said they were worried about a higher risk of bushfires if nothing is done.

The Climate Institute's Nicky Ison said concerns about climate change were not limited to inner-city areas; three-quarters of respondents in regional areas said ignoring changes to the climate would only make the situation worse, something Ison said should not come as a surprise.

"I think there's a misconception that concern is mainly held in the city and I think there are some strong voices, particularly in rural and regional Australia, that have exaggerated or stoked that misconception," Ison told Guardian Australia on Monday.

"A vocal minority gets a lot of traction, probably because they have a greater access to megaphones."

Despite public concern about the effects climate change would have on Australia in the future, the poll also found that just one in three of those polled said the government needed to do more to help negate or reverse the effects of climate change.

Rather, the Climate Institute said, two-thirds of those polled said individuals should do more to contribute to change.

Meanwhile despite Australia being reliant on coal power, just 3 percent of city-based and 4 percent of rural Australians listed the fossil fuel as their preferred energy source; solar was the most popular choice with almost 60 percent of the vote, followed by wind energy. Endit