{"id":20014,"date":"2012-03-01T13:01:50","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T21:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=20014"},"modified":"2018-02-01T23:33:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T23:33:09","slug":"belief-in-climate-change-depends-on-which-way-the-wind-blows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/01\/belief-in-climate-change-depends-on-which-way-the-wind-blows\/","title":{"rendered":"Belief in Climate Change Depends on Which Way the Wind Blows"},"content":{"rendered":"

More people think the climate is changing, and many say the weather convinced them<\/strong><\/p>\n

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People cited their experience of warmer temperatures as a major influence in their views of climate change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Americans now say that the climate is changing, according to the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change<\/a> (PDF). Nearly two out of three people (62%) answered “yes” to the question, “Is there solid evidence that the average temperature on Earth has been getting warmer over the past four decades?” The primary reasons they gave for that answer? About one in four said it’s because they’ve observed warmer temperatures, and an identical 24% because they’ve observed weather changes — and the survey was taken last fall, before this year’s generally<\/em> mild winter in the U.S. had entered the national chatter (we recall a recent tweet from NOAA saying that Midland, TX had logged more snowfall<\/a> this winter than New York, Boston and Philadelphia combined).<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the poll did follow a year of weird weather<\/a> and suggests that belief in climate change is edging back up. This is the first time since the fall of 2009 that this particular survey shows public accord with the majority of scientists topping 60%.<\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The survey, conducted by the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, includes comments from some of the respondents. A sampling of those: \u201cwinters just aren\u2019t as cold as they were in the past,\u201d \u201cthis time of year is warmer than it is expected to be,\u201d and \u201ctemperatures last summer that were awful,\u201d and, on the other side: \u201cwinters were just as cold as when I was a kid,\u201d and \u201cwe had more snow last year than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

[module align=”left” width=”half” type=”pull-quote”]”Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”
\n— Robert A. Heinlein[\/module]<\/p>\n

Even though plenty of people see the weather they observe as evidence for or against climate change, climate scientists are hesitant to do the same. At this point, it’s not possible to pinpoint the exact cause of any single weather event<\/a> — or even to say, for example, “This winter was warm and dry, and that’s because of climate change.”<\/p>\n

Other numbers worth noting from the poll:<\/p>\n