Regional Attitudes towards Climate Change

2 Cautious1Dismissive1Doubtful1Disengaged

gCore Fall 2011Ashley McBee, Matthew Elswick, Stephanie Huck,

Melissa Peterson, Aaron Zimmer

2C3D Group

Participants:

Our breakout group was comprised of 2 participants from the Cautious category, and 1 each from the Disengaged,

Doubtful, and Dismissive categories.

It is interesting to note: of the 42 interviews our class conducted, the last three Six Americas categories were

represented by only one person each.

This means that among the Olympians our class interviewed: only 2.3% of respondents were disengaged,

doubtful and dismissive, compared to 12%, 11%, and 7%, respectively, from the national survey.

Because of the disparate nature of our group, synthesis of the information was a little more difficult.

Our matrices might look different than other groups who had a more homogenous grouping of opinion and attitude.

From the Six America's Study :

The Cautious believe that global warming is a problem, although they are less certain that it ishappening than the Alarmed or the Concerned; they don’t view it as a personal threat, and don’t feel a sense of urgency to deal with it.

From the Six America's Study :

The Disengaged haven’t thought much about the

issue at all, don’t know much about it, and are the most

likely to say that they could easily change their minds

about global warming.

From the Six America's Study :

The Doubtful are evenly split among those who think global warming is happening, those who think it isn’t, and those who don’t know. Many within this group believe that if global warming is happening, it is caused by natural changes in the environment, believe global warming won’t harm people for many decades into the future, if at all, and say that America is already doing enough to respond to the threat.

From the Six America's Study :

The Dismissive, like the Alarmed, are actively engaged in the issue,

but on the opposite end of the spectrum; the majority believe that warming is not happening, is not a

threat to either people or non-human nature, and strongly

believe it is not a problem that warrants a national response.

Our Study: Interviewers

• Cautious (interviewed by SH & MP)

• Disengaged (interviewed by Matthew)

• Doubtful (interviewed by Ashley)

• Dismissive (interviewed by Aaron)

Keywords and Themes

• Media • Policy• Lay People

vs Experts• Polar

Bears• Weather

1) Distrust or Disconnection from Media

2) Uncertainty regarding efficacy of governmental public policy

3) Majority feeling of disbelief in anthropogenic climate change

4) Polarized views about Climate Change

5) Majority feeling of not having enough information

MatricesKeywords

Keywords Cautious(SH, MP)

Disengaged(ME)

Doubtful(AM)

Dismissive(AZ)

Media Not credible Not interested Misinformed Controlling, Profiteering

Policy Conditionally Supportive/Skeptical

Conditionally Supportive

Supportive Success in US, Failure in World

Lay People Panicked/Uneducated

Generational Lack of Knowledge Manipulated

Experts Trusted/Scientists Universities Knowledgeable Controlling

Polar Bears X/Unconcerned Concerned X X

Weather Unusual/Unchanged Windier No Noticeable Changes Worse

Matrices (2)Sources of Information

Cautious (SP, MP)

Disengaged (ME)

Doubtful (AM) Dismissive (AZ)

Information Sources

Not Trusted

TrustedNot

TrustedTrusted

Not Trusted

TrustedNot

TrustedTrusted

TV (General)

3 X X 4 2 X 3 X

Newspaper 8 X X X 1 X 2 1

Scientific Research

X 12 X X 1 2 3 X

Internet 1 X X X 3 X 1 XTally 12 12 0 4 7 2 9 1

MatricesSource of Information Tallies

Information Sources

Not Trusted Trusted

TV(General)

8 4

Newspaper 11 1

Scientific Research

4 14

Internet 5 0

Tally 28 19

Surprising Outcomes• Cautious participants were either uninterested in

the human element and policy to alter climate change or believed anthropogenic climate change was fabricated by money-hungry media sources.

• Disengaged participant mentioned they had not seen or heard media coverage on climate change.

• Dismissive participant believed that the United States had already curbed any of its possible contribution to climate change.

• Doubtful “anti-government” participant would support public policy based on valid climate change research.

Conclusions and Future Work

• Applicable future work might include qualitative research aimed at getting a better understanding of our participant groups’ understanding and points of view; WHY they believe what they believe. It would be valuable to know what kind of information angle it would take for them to believe in or act based on Climate Change.

• Also, research their information base, such as the book:

Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 YearsSinger, S.F., Avery, D.T., 2007. Rowan and Littlefield Publishers

2C3D GroupThank you.