Which Countries Are Most Open to Curbing Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
A new study shows large gaps between concern about climate change and the willingness to act
SMITHSONIAN.COM
At this week’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change, over 40,000 attendees will discuss the future of global attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But which countries are the biggest supporters of climate change action?
A new study by Pew Research shows that in most countries, there’s a large gap between concern about climate change and the willingness to act. But the results are a bit different than you might expect.
The study, which polled people in 40 nations, found that people worldwide are worried about how climate change will affect Earth’s future. A majority of people surveyed in each nation felt that climate change is a serious problem, and 54 percent worldwide characterized climate change as “a very serious problem.”
The most concerned respondents were in Latin America (74 percent) and Africa (61 percent), with the smallest number of concerned citizens in the Middle East (38 percent). United States respondents ranked near the bottom of concern—only 45 percent of Americans surveyed believe that global warming is very serious, and only 30 percent were “very concerned that climate change will harm me personally.”
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/which-countries-are-most-open-curbing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-180957408/#VGOgPCXW5YemRlhW.99
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