A majority of Americans are connecting the dots between increasingly extreme weather and man-made climate change.
82% of Americans say they have been personally affected by extreme weather, in the most extensive survey to date, commissioned by Yale University.
These include extreme high winds (60%), extreme rainstorms (49%), extreme heat waves (42%), drought (34%), extreme cold temperatures (29%), extreme snowstorms (26%), tornadoes (21%), floods (19%), hurricanes (16%) or wildfires (15%).
Americans say weather in the US is getting worse by a margin of over 2 to 1 (52% vs. 22%) and 51% expect a natural disaster in their own community during the coming year.
Another survey this month finds that "belief" in man-made climate change is rising again after several down years and that they want mandatory controls on greenhouse gas emissions and more federal support for renewable energy.
"A large majority of climate scientists say the climate is shifting in ways that could cause serious impacts, and they cite the human release of greenhouse gases as a principal cause. But a tiny, vocal minority of researchers contests that view, and has seemed in the last few years to be winning the battle of public opinion despite slim scientific evidence for their position," says the New York Times.
Media coverage of climate change (and there’s been plenty of news) plummeted 80% on broadcast networks from 2009-2011 and scientists say they have been shut out from climate change discussions on Sunday news programs, reports Media Matters.
The Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity takes credit for the culture of climate denial that’s taken over the GOP. Its president, Tim Phillips, openly takes credit for literally threatening GOP lawmakers with "political peril" should they chose to "play footsie" on climate change and clean energy.
71% say they follow local weather forecasts closely, but only 11% report hearing about global warming from meterologists, even though 58% say they are looking for that information.
Weather Underground Steps Up
Weather Underground has added a Climate Change Center to its website to "present users with hard facts about how climate is changing in their local neighborhoods and empower people to form their own opinions on the climate change debate."
Users can use the Local Climate Change tool to review data from local weather stations reporting conditions from as far back as the early 1700s. You can also see how climate could change in the future, as far forward as year 2100.
"Earth’s climate has changed dramatically in recent years, and there is strong agreement among climate scientists that the current climate changes are mostly due to human activities. It is important for people to understand the changes happening to our atmosphere and what we can do about them," says Dr. Jeff Masters, co-founder and Director of Meteorology at Weather Underground.
The Skeptical Science section debunks common myths about climate change, and has blogs and videos to help people understand the science behind climate change and how to reduce personal impact.
Weather Underground says the site has 20 million users and is the weather provider for Google, the Associated Press and CBS.
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