A survey revealed that more Americans think that changes in temperature are due to the yearly-variation of climate rather than the human-induced climate change.
According to the survey results released by Gallup, there are more Democrats than Republicans who attribute these changes to climate change. Forty-seven percent of the Democrats and their supporters said that colder temperatures were caused by climate change. By contrast, only 11 percent of Republicans and their supporters linked the colder temperature to climate change.
When it comes to drought, 51 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners were convinced this was due to global warming while only 14 percent of Republicans had the same view.
These survey results are consistent with the Republican-Democratic divide on dealing with global warming and climate change.
The survey also discovered that Americans are more aware of the changes in temperature that in the recent years. Sixty-six percent of Americans said that their region is experiencing colder temperatures this winter, an increase from 19 percent in 2013, and four percent in 2012.
Notions about changing temperature vary depending on the respondent's location. Eastern and Midwestern respondents agree that this winter was colder than usual with 87 percent of respondents reporting that observation. Sixty-eight percent of the Southern residents, on the other hand, said that they experienced no change in the temperature for this year. By contrast, 41 percent of Western residents say that the temperature has been warmer.
Twenty-five percent of the respondents reported experiencing rainfall shortage while 65 percent of Western residents reported that they are experiencing drought. This is a huge difference compared to the four to 20 percent respondents from other areas who stated that are also suffering from the drought.
Just four in 10 Americans predict that climate change will affect and threaten their way of life.
The data were gathered through telephone interviews conducted from March 6 to 9, using a random sample of 1,048 residents from all 50 states including the District of Columbia.
