My opinion is that your opinion shouldn't matter. Now you tell me who's right.

There were several articles posted on Current yesterday about Pew's Shocking new poll about American's belief in global warming.
The timing of the report was interesting given that it was released a day after 18 scientific organizations wrote Congress to reaffirm the consensus behind global warming. At the end of the day, it makes me feel sorry for our political leaders who are forever trapped between the information and the political will of an under educated country. The situation that this article sheds light on continues my week long ponder about the difference between management and leadership.

Grist reporters Dave Roberts and John Hiskes followed up with a break down of the stats and discuss the difference between opinion and fact:

John Hiskes of Grist covered the details, a few which are below:

The poll found that only 57 percent of respondents believe that “the earth is getting warmer,” compared with 71 percent in April 2008. Pew has asked similar sets of questions six times since June 2006 and has never found such a dramatic rise in skepticism.

Those who believe warming is caused by human activity (burning fossil fuels) wavered between 41 and 50 percent in the first five polls. This fall, the figure dropped to 36 percent.

Those who consider global warming a “very serious problem” ranged between 41 and 47 percent in the first five polls. This fall, the figure fell to 35 percent.

The shift was most pronounced among political independents. In that group, those who believe there is solid evidence for climate change fell from 75 percent in the April 2008 poll to 53 percent (that’s 22 points). Democrats who believe there is solid evidence for climate change dropped from 83 percent in the last poll to 75 percent. Republicans slipped from 49 percent to 35 percent.

Other recent polls haven’t found the rise in skepticism that Pew documents. An August Zogby poll found a majority of Americans wanted additional or continued action from Congress on climate change. A July poll from WorldPublicOpinion.org found Americans lagging other countries in demanding a climate plan, yet still asking their government to do more. For a bit of context on what scientists think, yesterday 18 leading scientific organizations sent a letter to U.S. senators reminding them of the scientific consensus that climate change is happening, that it is caused by human activities, and that its effects will be severe.

Dave Roberts of Grist responded with a friendly reminder that political opinion does not actually change scientific facts:

It should be noted, of course, that 57% ain’t bad, given the public’s generally low level of scientific knowledge. About 79% of people know the earth revolves around the sun rather than vice versa, while 80% believe prayer accelerates healing. Some 75% believe in angels but just 39% believe in evolution. Public opinion on matters of science is of great interest for a great many reasons, but it is a poor guide for public policy. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard on how we might best respond to what’s happening, but what’s happening is happening and we can’t change it by not acknowledging it. As Bill McKibben is fond of saying, nature doesn’t negotiate.

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