Majority of people unwilling to fund ‘saving the planet’

Top ten fears of 2020/2021  percentage Very Afraid or Afraid

1- Corrupt government officials 79.6 percent

2- People I love dying 58.5 percent

3- A loved one contracting COVID-19 58 percent

4- People I love becoming seriously ill 57.3 percent

5- Widespread civil unrest 56.5 percent

6- A pandemic or a major epidemic 55.8 percent

7- Economic/financial collapse 54.8 percent

8- Cyber-terrorism 51 percent

9- Pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes 50.8 percent

10- Biological warfare 49.3 percent

Global warming and climate change were number 13 at 48.7 percent

Environmental concerns diminishing

In the face of other fears and growing concerns, it seems as if environmental issues have taken a back seat. Fears of pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes have dropped in rank from second to ninth place, losing nearly 18 percent of Americans.

This trend can also be seen as 23.7 percent of respondents are now very afraid of climate change, down 13 percent from 2019. A similar sort of drop can be seen in those who are very afraid of pollution of the air (down 14 percent) and drinking water (down 18 percent). In general, it seems as if Americans are less afraid of concerns involving the environment than they were in years before. (2)

United Kingdom

The public in the United Kingdom is considerably more concerned by climate change than it was even a year ago, following a string of wildfires, storms and other extreme events around the world, a recent survey shows. However, the survey also finds that while people are in favor of drastic measures to help the country become net zero by 2050 in theory—when they realize the cost and potential inconvenience it could give them personally support drops off rapidly.

A majority of the UK public support seven out of eight key net zero policies, in principle, while opposing increased taxes on meat and dairy. (3)

Conclusion

References

1. Steve Milloy, “Unsung zeroes: the top 10 under-reported climate flops of 2021, junkscience.com, December 28, 2021

2. Roxy Amirazizi, Chapman University Survey of American Fear Wave 7 (2020/2021), chapman.edu

3.. Tom Bawden,”Climate change: UK public more worried than ever about global warming, but still doesn’t want to pay to fix it,” inews.co.uk, January 2, 2022

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