Climate in Context: GOOD Charts American Thoughts on Climate Change

Climate Central

As far as infographics go, this one appears, at first glance, fairly straightforward and it charts how American opinions of climate change issues have changed in the past decade. The message seems to be that people are losing faith in climate change news. For example, fewer Americans today think climate change is occurring than compared to a few years ago. Another part of the graphic suggests that the majority of Americans don’t think climate change is going to be a serious threat in their lifetime.

On the other hand, when you look closely at the data, a different narrative might materialize in front of you. As of 2010, for example, only about 10 percent of Americans deny climate change is occurring (though nearly 40 percent are unsure). And while the past couple years found an increasing number of people think global warming news is exaggerated, the population is still pretty evenly divided about this. In fact, a full 30 percent actually think the news is underplayed. Perhaps the most confusing piece of information is that 50 percent of Americans think government actions to reduce climate change will create more jobs, while 56 percent think that the same efforts will hurt the economy. Huh?