Sustainable Living & Sustainable Lifestyle
Where you live impacts your views on climate change
Where you live impacts your views on climate change
With President Donald Trump now possibly pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accords, the issue of climate change has again moved to the front burner of American politics.
Reaction to this possibility has been swift. Elon Musk has threatened to resign from the White House advisory board on climate change if Trump pulls out. American cities, led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, have vowed to take up the cause.
But what Americans think about Trump’s actions may not follow in this same vein. Much of it could depend on where they live.
A recent report from the New York Times on new information about opinions on climate change from Yale University’s Program on Climate Communications shed some light on how people view the potential dangers of climate change and also how it will affect them.
The Times summed up the findings in a series of maps that show the results county-by-county across the United States. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the states that supported Trump in his campaign also do not feel as strongly as others about climate change.
On some issues, most Americans agree. For example, seven out of 10 Americans think there should be a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. However, there are clear differences in some areas, much of it based on geography.
Asked simply if they even discuss climate change occasionally, respondents across much of the South said they talk about it the least. This included all the Deep South, most of Texas and the northern section of Florida. People talk the most about the issue in the Northeast and in almost all the Western states, as well as Alaska and Hawaii.
Most parts of the country agreed that climate change will have an effect on the U.S., although there were sections through the South and plains states where only about 50 percent or less of the people thought so.
However, the big change came when people were asked if climate change would affect them personally. People in California and the southwest – Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas – think they have a much higher chance of being affected, as did people in the Northeast. Outside of urban areas scattered across the country, the concern was less high.
The Times report also focused on two of the biggest states, Texas and Florida. Both states seem divided on the question of whether they are somewhat worried about climate change.
In Florida, those north of Gainesville had far less concern about climate change affecting them than those in Central and South Florida. The same pattern followed in Texas, where those in the north part of the state (with the exception of the Dallas-Fort Worth area) were less concerned about global warming than those to the south.
The maps provide an interesting look at how the views on climate change are different, even though everyone has access to the same information.
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