US and Canada climate change concerns remain strong despite COVID-19

US and Canada climate change concerns remain strong despite COVID-19

June 29, 2020 0 By John Max

New research has shown that Americans and Canadians still feel the environment is important.

New research has shown that the climate change concerns that existed before the pandemic crisis remain in place in the United States and Canada despite dramatic lifestyle shifts.

New research revealed that voters, particularly in younger age groups, feel the environment remains important.

Research Co and Glacier Media surveyed Canadians about their current government and determined that the highest voter satisfaction was in three primary areas: the country’s reputation in the world, its global affairs role, and the environment. Among the respondents to the survey, 21 percent felt that the environment was better than it had been six years earlier. In the 18 to 34-year-old age group, that proportion rose to 28 percent. Voters at middle age and older expressed greater skepticism about the government’s policies. While some did feel their federal government should do more, others felt that the current actions were adequate.

In the United States, as Americans get ready for a presidential election the researchers found that Joe Biden’s largest lead over Donald Trump was in the category regarding environmental management. Nearly half of Americans (46 percent) felt that when it comes specifically to the environment, Biden was the better candidate. This represented a massive 20-point lead over Trump.

Perceptions regarding climate change concerns appear to be different between the US and Canada.

Earlier in June, perceptions about climate change were examined in the United States and Canada. These were compared to data from the same research conducted in July 2019. In Canada, nearly two in every three people (64 percent) feel that global warming is a fact and that its primary cause is from industrial facilities and vehicle emissions. That represents an increase of four percent over last year, at the height of the “Green New Deal” discussions and before the federal election in the country.

Of the remaining Canadian participants, 23 percent feel that global warming is a fact but is mainly the result of natural changes. Only 7 percent feel that global warming is a hypothesis that has not been proven.

On the other hand, among Americans, a much lower percentage – 53 percent – feel that climate change is real and primarily caused by factory and vehicle emissions. Another 25 percent feel it is a fact but caused by natural changes, a similar percentage to Canada. A Climate change concerns - fossil fuels - eyes in the skynotably higher 14 percent of Americans feel that climate change concerns are based on a hypothesis yet to be proven, said the research.

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