How serious of a threat do you believe global warming is to non-human nature? 3.06 0.93
How concerned are you about global warming? 2.89 0.89
How serious are the current impacts of global warming around the world? 2.64 0.89
How likely do you think it is that each of the following will occur
during the next 50 years due to global warming?
Worldwide water shortages will occur. 2.77 1.05
Increased rates of serious disease worldwide. 2.65 1.01
Worldwide, many people's standard of living will decrease. 2.59 1.01
Water shortages will occur where I live. 2.42 1.06
My chance of getting a serious disease will increase. 2.34 1.02
My standard of living will decrease. 2.27 1.05
n = 590. Scales range from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very), with a midpoint of 2.5.
Leiserowitz
Environmental Education Research
Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
Issue: Volume 6, Number 2 / May 1, 2000
Pages: 127 - 141
URL: Linking Options
Public Understanding of Climate Change: certainty and willingness to act
Rosanne W. Fortner, Jae-Young Lee, Jeffrey R. Corney, Samantha Romanello, Joseph Bonnell, Brian
Luthy, Claudia Figuerido, Nyathi Ntsiko
Abstract:
During a 10-week period prior to the 1997 Kyoto conference on climate change, two parallel studies were
conducted: Study 1 examined media portrayals of global warming and the certainty with which information
was reported (percentage of 'hedging'); Study 2 was a telephone survey to assess public knowledge about
key topics in global climate change, people's certainty about their information, trust in the media, and
willingness to take action on global warming. Media reports were found to be scarce, and about half of the
references to global warming were found to be hedged. More hedging was evident in the New York Times
than in other print media and national television reports, and economic impacts of climate change were
reported with the greatest certainty. The audience (N = 139 adults, average age 36–45, with at least a high
school education) reported trusting their media sources more than 50% of the time. They were collectively
fairly knowledgeable and certain about global warming information (9.1 on a scale of - 20 to + 20), and they
appeared to be willing to adopt a range of responsible behaviors seen to be useful in countering global
warming (average response 3.0 out of 4). The knowledge/certainty factor was described as 'attitude under
uncertainty', and was significantly related to media trust (r = 0.325, p < 0.01) and willingness to act
responsibly (r = 0.400, p < 0.01). Comparing Study 1 with Study 2, the research does not support a
hypothesis that media hedging is related to uncertainty. Implications for environmental communicators are
discussed.