Americans are less concerned about this climate change thing than other people around the world.
The Pew Research Group this week released the results of a worldwide survey of 37,653 residents of 39 countries, revealing that just 40 percent of Americans view global warming as a major threat to their country.
Across all countries surveyed, by comparison, 54 percent view global warming as a major threat. Concern was highest in Latin America and lowest in the U.S., with concern among Middle East residents nearly as low as those in America.
Concern about global climate change is particularly prevalent in Latin America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asian/Pacific region, but majorities in Lebanon, Tunisia and Canada also say climate change is a major threat to their countries. In contrast, Americans are relatively unconcerned about global climate change. Four-in-ten say this poses a major threat to their nation, making Americans among the least concerned about this issue of the 39 publics surveyed, along with people in China, Czech Republic, Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Pakistan.
It’s not that Americans aren’t sitting around worrying about stuff. We’re plenty worried. But what’s keeping us up at night is Islamic extremist groups, nukes in North Korea and Iran, and the growth of China’s power and influence.
Here is a summary of the survey results:
Is it weird that we’re more worried about North Korea than about global climate change? Oh well, at least we’re more likely to fret about climate change than about America’s power and influence.