Two-Thirds of Floridians Express Concern About Global Climate Change

SAINT LEO, Fla., April 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey of Florida residents by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute found 67 percent of those polled said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about global climate change. Thirty-two percent of Floridians polled were either somewhat unconcerned (18 percent) or not at all concerned (14) about global climate change.

When asked about their beliefs about the causes of global climate change:

• 16 percent said it is caused entirely by human activity
• 14 percent said global climate change is caused entirely by nature
• 57 percent said it is caused by a combination of human activity and nature
• 8 percent responded that they do not believe global climate change is occurring,

"It is encouraging news that more than half show some level of concern," said Dr. Leo Ondrovic, associate professor of biology and physics at Saint Leo University. Still, he found respondents' beliefs about the causes of global climate change indicate a possible misperception among the public. "Global climate change theory predicts changes from the natural variations," he explained, "yet 57 percent of the respondents in Florida think changes are a combination of both man-made and natural variation. This suggests that most people do not understand, or don't believe, that climate scientists have already considered the contributions of nature."

Dr. Ondrovic also commented on the changes in environmental conditions residents said they noted. Specifically, only 23 percent said they were aware of ocean rising or seacoast flooding. "It is surprising that Floridians did not have a higher rate of recognition of sea level rise, given the widely publicized periodic flooding in Miami and Cape Canaveral."

When asked which entity bears the most responsibility for dealing with problems associated with global climate change, respondents could provide multiple responses. The federal government ranked highest at 53 percent, international bodies followed at 44 percent, state governments at 43 percent, local governments 39 percent, while the private sector or entrepreneurs were cited 36 percent of the time.

The margin of error for the Florida survey, which collected answers from 522 online respondents between March 15 and March 21, was plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Saint Leo University Polling Institute has posted full results in table form here: http://polls.saintleo.edu.

SOURCE Saint Leo University Polling Institute

Related Links

http://polls.saintleo.edu