Republican debates on climate change may be what influenced more Americans this year than last to believe the world is warming, according to Inside Climate News.
A Reuters/Stanford/Ipsos poll found "the percentage of Americans who believe the Earth has been warming rose to 83 percent from 75 percent last year in the poll conducted Sept 8-12," the group reported.
Jon Krosnick, a political science professor at Stanford University said Americans are forced to think about their stance on global warming when watching Republicans debate climate change, according to Inside Climate News.
ThinkProgress.org reports that based on a Yale/George Mason study in May, 71 percent of Americans think global warming should be very high, high or of medium priority for the President and Congress.
But, HuffPost's Tom Zeller reports that while Americans prioritized the environment ahead of the economy for thirty years, in the wake of the economic downturn of 2008, a majority of Americans are saying the economy is more important.
The same is to be said on a global scale as Reuters reports that concerns over climate change have risen only slightly since 2009, as consumers around the world worry more about issues immediately impacting their daily lives.
However, most still believe it is happening, even if its not at the top of their list of concerns. According to International Business Times, a study by Yale and George Mason University found it is mainly members of the Tea Party who do not believe climate change is occurring. Legalplanet.com reported the majority of Democrats (78%), Independents (71%) and Republicans (53%) believe in global warming, while only 34% of the Tea Party agree with them.
The Hill is quick to point out that there still remains a "sharp partisan divide over its causes." As the poll describes:
37% of Democrats believe global warming is the result primarily of human action, while only 14% of Republicans believe this. Conversely, 43% of Republicans believe global warming is the result of natural causes, up from 35% in 2010. Self-identified Tea Party members display still more certainty (49%) that global warming is caused by natural events.
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