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SHARP RISE IN CLIMATE REALISM IN THE UK |
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September 10, 2009: "UK climate scepticism more common", by Sudeep Chand, Science Reporter, British Broadcasting Corporation, United Kingdom. "The British public has become more sceptical about climate change over the last five years, according to a survey. Twice as many people now agree that "claims that human activities are changing the climate are exaggerated". Four in 10 believe that many leading experts still question the evidence. One in five are "hard-line sceptics". Read the whole piece. Encouraging indicators as derived from the survey can be seen in the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Working Paper 132 where the following proportion of the population "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with the following assertions: - 40.2% - "Climate change is too complex and uncertain for scientists to make useful forecasts"
- 32% - "Claims that human activities are changing the climate are exaggerated"
- 57% - "The media is often too alarmist about issues like climate change"
- 43.9% (double the proportion of the population who believed this statement five years earlier) - "Many leading experts still question if human activity is contributing to climate change"
The survey also revealed that 28% of Britons believe the sun has a "a lot" of impact on climate change. However, 61.5% of the population sensibly conclude "I need more information to form a clear opinion about climate change".
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