This may confirm suspicions that many of us have already had. Besides leading the world in consumer debt and military spending, the U.S. can now add climate denial to that list. That is, according to a Global Trends survey by the U.K.-based market research firm Ipsos MORI. The study polled 16,000 people in 20 leading countries on eight different topics, including the environment. Not only was the U.S. last, but it was last by a considerable margin.
This may confirm suspicions that many of us have already had. Besides leading the world in consumer debt and military spending, the U.S. can now add climate denial to that list. That is, according to a Global Trends survey by the U.K.-based market research firm Ipsos MORI. The study polled 16,000 people in 20 leading countries on eight different topics, including the environment.
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Not only was the U.S. last, but it was last by a considerable margin. Consider the following question: "To what extent do you agree or disagree, the climate change we are currently seeing is largely the result of human activity?" A mere 54 percent of respondents from the U.S. agreed. Compare that with 93 percent from China and 84 percent from both Argentina and Italy. India, France, Turkey, Spain, Brazil, Belgium, South Korea and South Africa all scored 75 percent or higher. Other similar questions yielded similar results. These results were in alignment was data compiled by Pew Research a year ago, which examined the issues that people in various countries considered the greatest threats.
Tied for second-to-last with 64 percent were Great Britain and Australia. What do these three English-speaking countries have in common? Among other things, global media holding company News Corporation, the world's second-largest media conglomerate, owned by Rupert Murdoch. Canada, which is also blessed with Murdoch's version of the news, was only slightly better, with 71 percent agreeing.
Riley Dunlap, an environmental sociologist at Oklahoma State University is not surprised. "It's the countries where neo-liberalism is most hegemonic and with strong neo-liberal regimes (both in power and lurking on the sidelines to retake power) that have bred the most active denial campaigns — U.S., U.K., Australia and now Canada."
Continue reading at ENN affiliate, Triple Pundit.
Climate change words image via Shutterstock.
