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UM survey: extreme weather impacts climate change beliefs

hurricane photo
Chuck Simmins
/
flickr creative commons
Research at the University of Michigan finds that extreme weather events like hurricanes can influence how people think about global warming.

A nationwide study out of the University of Michigan finds that people are more likely to believe in global warming after they personally witness extreme weather events. Current State talks to Dr. Barry Rabe, co-director of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment, which produced the report. 

Americans have strongly polarized beliefs about whether global warming is a reality. A survey run by the University of Michigan that’s been going on for seven years indicates that people are more likely to believe it is when they have witnessed extreme drought or brutal winter weather.

Current State’s Melissa Benmark speaks with Dr. Barry Rabe, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D. C. and a Professor at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He’s also the  the co-director of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment, which produced the survey and the report.

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