More Americans Believe World is Warming
This year has been a record year for the kind of costly weather disasters – including Hurricane Irene – that scientists have warned would be more frequent with climate change. The U.S. suffered 10 natural disasters in 2011 with economic losses of $1 billion or more, according to the National Weather Service.
Unlike other issues that divide Republicans and Democratic voters, a majority of Americans from both major parties agree on global warming, the poll found. Some 72 percent of Republicans believe global warming is happening and 92 percent of Democrats do. Some 71 percent of the Americans who believe warming is happening think that it is caused either partly or mostly by humans, while 27 percent believe it is the result of natural causes, the poll found.