Hot off the Presses ... H/T to the "You Should Know" segment on Up with Chris Hayes, once again. Thank you Up Staff ...
Global Warming’s Six Americas in September 2012
March 06, 2013 -- Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication
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Highlights:
* Reducing our dependence on foreign oil, creating green jobs and improving the economy are ranked among the top five benefits by all Six Americas.
* Majorities of all Six Americas say the U.S. should increase its use of renewable energy.
* In five of the six segments, larger proportions prefer to reduce, rather than increase fossil fuel use; only the Dismissive prefer to increase the nation’s use of fossil fuels.
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Global Warming’s Six Americas, September 2012 (pdf)
Interview dates: August 31 – September 12, 2012
Interviews: 1,061 Adults (18+)
Margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for the full sample.
This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, and was funded by the Surdna Foundation, the 11th Hour Project, the Grantham Foundation, and the V. K. Rasmussen Foundation.
The Six Americas Audience Segments
The Six Americas do not vary much by age, gender, race or income -- there are members of every demographic group in each of the groups. They range instead along a spectrum of belief, concern and issue engagement, from the Alarmed to the Dismissive.
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Poll results just around the corner ...
(pdf -- pg 5)
The Six Americas Audience Segments
much larger image
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As of September 2012, the largest audience segment is the Concerned (29%), who are moderately certain that global warming is occurring, harmful and human-caused; they tend to view global warming as a threat to other nations and future generations, but not as a personal threat or a threat to their community. They support societal action on climate change, but are unlikely to have engaged in political activism.
The Cautious (25%) -- the second-largest group -- are likely to believe that climate change is real, but are not certain, and many are uncertain about the cause. They are less worried than the Concerned, and view global warming as a distant threat. They have given little thought to the issue and are unlikely to have strongly held opinions about what, if anything, should be done.
The third largest group -- the Alarmed (16%) -- are very certain global warming is occurring, understand that it is human-caused and harmful, and strongly support societal action to reduce the threat. They discuss the issue more often, seek more information about it, and are more likely to act as global warming opinion leaders than the other segments. They are the most likely of the six groups to have engaged in political activism on the issue, although only about a quarter have done so.
These three groups -- the Alarmed, Concerned and Cautious -- currently comprise 70 percent of the American public. Although they range in certainty about the reality and dangers of climate change, they are similarly inclined to believe it is a real threat that should be addressed. Thus, some level of support for action is the predominant view among the majority of Americans.
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The Doubtful (13%) -- the fourth largest group -- are uncertain whether global warming is occurring or not, but believe that if it is happening, it is attributable to natural causes, not human activities. They tend to be politically conservative and to hold traditional religious views.
The Disengaged (9%) have given the issue of global warming little to no thought. They have no strongly held beliefs about global warming, know little about it, and do not view it as having any personal relevance. They tend to have the lowest education and income levels of the six groups.
The smallest audience segment is the Dismissive (8%), who are very certain that global warming is not occurring. Many regard the issue as a hoax and are strongly opposed to action to reduce the threat. About one in nine have contacted an elected representative to argue against action on global warming.
Welcome to the Six Degrees of interconnectedness, on one very important Global Scale.
The closer you look, the more inter-related it all is. We've got only One Earth, afterall.
And billions of people trying to earn our livings here. Climate stability willing ...