The majority of the British public believe that Planet Earth is experiencing climate change, but few place the blame entirely on human activity. A significant 84% agreed with the statement that the planet is warming, but only 18% believe human activity is mainly responsible; most (58%) feel that other factors have a part to play. Eight percent think that human activity, in comparison to other factors, is not responsible at all.
A small but noticeable eight percent refute the idea that the planet is warming at all.
It seems that most Britons also believe that politicians are not doing enough against global warming with 73% agreeing with the statement that ‘there is no serious political will worldwide to tackle climate change’ – perhaps due to the disappointing results of the Copenhagen summit which had been hailed firstly as the great ‘climate change’ conference, and then as a major disappointment due to its failure to reach consensus between the participating nations.
It seems that the recent controversy surrounding scientific evidence supporting the extent, and reasons behind, the warming, dubbed ‘Climategate’ by the BBC, has created a huge amount of uncertainty around the issue. In fact, 30% of the public claim that they have become more sceptical about the validity of climate change and 38% agree that dishonest scientists have made them doubt whether climate change is really happening.
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