NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/08/05
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-08-05 17:00.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Results from not one but two public opinion polls on climate change.
A NEW SURVEY ON CLIMATE CHANGE According to the latest National Surveys on Energy Environment, a twice-yearly survey conducted by the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College, "Just 15% of Americans say that there is no solid evidence that the Earth is warming, down from 24% a year ago, and the lowest in the NSEE's history." Asked "From what you've read and heard. Is there solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past four decades?" 66% of respondents said yes, 15% said no, and 19% volunteered that they were unsure. Those who said yes were asked "How confident are you that the average temperature on earth is increasing?": 71% of respondents were very confident, 24% were fairly confident, 3% were not too confident, 1% were not confident at all, and 1% volunteered that they were unsure. Those who said yes were also asked "Is the earth getting warmer because of human activity such as burning fossil fuels, or mostly because of natural patterns in the earth’s environment?": 46% chose human activity, 16% chose natural patterns, 32% volunteered that it was a combination, and 6% volunteered that they were unsure. Those who said no were asked "How confident are you that the average temperatures on earth are not increasing?": 55% of respondents were very confident, 29% were fairly confident, 11% were not too confident, 3% were not confident at all, and 3% volunteered that they were unsure. There were 768 adult respondents for the survey, contacted via land line and cell phones between April 5 and April 26, 2016; the margin of error was +/- 4%. The data were weighted by gender, age, race, income, and education. For information about the survey, visit: http://closup.umich.edu/national-surveys-on-energy-and-environment/nsee-2016-spring.php POLLING CLIMATE CHANGE AND GOD "One in seven Americans think it is definitely (7%) or probably (9%) true that 'God controls the climate, therefore people can't be causing global warming," according to a July 26, 2016, note from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Only half (59%) of the respondents regarded it as probably not (16%) and definitely not (33%) true, with 15% not sure and 20% regarding it as not applying to their beliefs. Those more likely to agree included evangelical and born-again Christians (30%), people who believe that Earth was created in six days, as described in the Bible (26%), Republicans (26%), and people who do not believe that humans evolved from earlier species (24%). Those least likely to agree included agnostics and atheists (1%), Democrats (9%), people who believe humans evolved from earlier species (9%), and those with a college education (11%). The data presented derive from a study conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication in a web-based environment from March 18 to March 31, 2016, using an on-line research panel of 1204 American adults, "weighted, post survey, to match US Census Bureau norms." The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3% at the 95% confidence level. For the note from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, visit: http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/global-warming-god-end-times/ WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Stephanie Keep finding a teachable moment in Pokémon GO: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/08/fine-let-s-talk-pok-mon-0018327 * Emily Schoerning describing NCSE's first-ever summer camp: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/ncse-runs-camp-part-1-0018318 https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/ncse-runs-camp-part-2-0018319 https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/ncse-runs-camp-part-3-0018320 https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/ncse-runs-camp-part-4-0018321 https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/ncse-runs-camp-part-5-0018322 * Glenn Branch revisiting a pseudomathematical argument against evolution: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/08/justly-neglected-argument-redivivus-0018265 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
» 3347 reads
