Climate-Change Views: Republican-Democratic Gaps Expand in Recent Years

Acceptance by the American people of human-caused climate change has closely tracked by Gallup for the last decade. And the trend has the same direction as the scientific consensus. When asked what kind of action is needed to address global warming:




So people are getting the message. Maybe not quickly, but surely. In January of this year, 61% of Americans said the effects of global warming have already begun. I was a bit surprised that only a little more than a third say they worry about it a great deal, a percentage that held steady for 19 years.

Gallup did a follow on analysis to break apart those big numbers, and not surprisingly they found that party affiliation had an influence on the numbers. From Gallup -



That is interesting. The general trend is one way -

61% of Americans currently say "[effects from climate change] have already begun to happen." an... increase from 1997, when 48% gave this response.

So the trend is driven not by a general move, but a strong move among a sub-group. One group of people is moving strongly, while another is unmoved, unconvinced.

[O]ver three-fourths of Democrats (76%) believe global warming is already happening, only 41% of Republicans share that view.

This has all happened since 1997, when -

[N]early identical percentages of Republicans and Democrats (47% and 46%) indicated that global warming was already happening.

These are all interesting, but the number that needs to shift for their to be a viable green economy is this one:
Will global warming be a serious threat in my lifetime?