Last Climate Change Poll Shows High Concern

The latest opinion poll on climate change shows that 65% of people surveyed across the world believe coming to an agreement at the December Copenhagen meeting is very important.

US citizens were least concerned among the world’s citizens about getting a commitment to reduce emissions 50-80% by 2050.

The demand for a commitment was high among all countries, but highest in Mexico (91%), Brazil (90%), Hong Kong (84%) and China (82%) and lowest in India (75%), UK (71%) and the US (66%).

69% say addressing climate change is at least as important, if not more important than supporting their national economy during the downturn. Respondents to this question were asked to prioritize spending public money on healthcare, crime, national defence, education and supporting the national economy during the downturn, in HSBC’s third Climate Confidence Monitor.

For the third year running, the poll shows stronger desire for action in emerging economies than in the developed world.

Stephen Green, Group Chairman HSBC Holdings said: "We know that the impacts of climate change will particularly affect the emerging markets and clearly the people of those countries are concerned."

In a year that brought media headlines of pandemic flu and economic meltdown, 34% say climate change is one of the  issues they worry most about.

They were asked to rank climate change as an issue compared to global economic stability, terrorism, violence, pandemic disease, global poverty, natural disasters and social breakdown.

David Barber, research chair in Arctic System Science at the University of Manitoba, told Reuters that the Arctic’s "old ice," layered over the years to 260 feet thick, is almost gone.

Scientists met at MIT for a symposium on "Engineering a Cooler Earth: Can We Do It? Should We Try?" They’re evaluating options on how to cool the planet using engineered solutions.

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