Most Americans agree there is a global climate crisis

By SWNS Staff // SWNS
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com

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Seven in 10 Americans believe they’ll have to change where they live at some point in their lives due to climate change, according to new research.

The study asked 2,000 Americans about their attitudes on climate change and found three-quarters of respondents believe there is currently a global climate crisis.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents also said they were worried about the current global climate, with 34% saying they were “very” worried.

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of SUEZ – Water Technologies & Solutions ahead of Earth Day, the survey found half of all respondents reported their biggest environmental concerns were wildfires, water pollution and air pollution.

Southwestern respondents were most worried about air pollution (58%), Midwesterners were most concerned about water pollution (62%) and Southerners were most concerned about wildfires (57%).

Water scarcity seems to be a concern across the country; 69% of respondents were in agreement that water scarcity is a major environmental concern of theirs.

But for respondents in the Northwest and Northeast, water scarcity was actually their top climate-related concern – at 45% and 53% respectively.

Three-quarters of respondents appear to be so worried about water scarcity, they’re even willing to see their taxes increase if it meant their city or municipality would invest more in protecting their local water supply.

“Leaders across the world are fully engaged with the global health crisis, as they should be. But the environmental challenges that existed before the crisis will remain as the economy rebounds,” said Yuvbir Singh, CEO of SUEZ – Water Technologies & Solutions. “I believe the world will emerge from this crisis more prepared and eager to tackle big problems, like the threat of water scarcity. The technology to reuse our most precious resource exists today and further investment in sustainable infrastructure can help solve global water scarcity.”

And overall, 77% of respondents agreed more people should be educated on the problem of water scarcity.

Yet, 67% of respondents reported they don’t know where to go for information on climate issues such as water scarcity.

Respondents were also asked about what they perceive the biggest threats to their local water supply to be.

The top risks to water supplies were listed as pharmaceuticals (48%), pesticides (46%), lead (45%) and microplastics (43%).

Midwestern respondents were most concerned with the threat pharmaceuticals pose to their local water supply, at 57%

Microplastics were the biggest concern for Northwestern (48%), Southwestern (48%) and Northeastern (47%) respondents.

Respondents in the South were most concerned about pesticides, at 55%.

“Water isn’t only used to support human life. We use it to wash our clothes, irrigate farms and manufacture the products we use every day,” Singh said. “While individual conservation is important, industry, communities and governments must come together to solve this challenge. We have the advanced technologies needed to provide water and wastewater treatment as well as water reuse, and they’ve been proven to work globally. Together, we can create a secure water future.”

AMERICANS’ TOP 10 CLIMATE CONCERNS

1. Wildfires                                                     51%
2. Water pollution                                           50%
3. Air pollution                                                50%
4. Water scarcity                                            48%
5. Drought                                                      42%
6. Flooding                                                     40%
7. Deforestation                                              39%
8. Increasingly severe weather patterns        34%
9. Rising sea levels                                        33%
10. Melting ice caps                                         32%

TOP PERCEIVED THREATS TO WATER SUPPLIES BY REGION

NORTHWEST

1. Microplastics                                      48%
2. Pharmaceuticals                                48%
3. Lead                                                   45%
4. Pesticides                                           41%
5. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds)  38%
6. PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid)           37%
7. Fertilizers                                            25%

SOUTHWEST

1. Microplastics                                      48%
2. Pharmaceuticals                                46%
3. Lead                                                   46%
4. Pesticides                                           46%
5. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds)  42%
6. Fertilizers                                            37%
7. PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid)           35%

MIDWEST

1. Pharmaceuticals                               57%
2. Lead                                                  50%
3. PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid)          46%
4. Pesticides                                          41%
5. Fertilizers                                           31%
6. Microplastics                                      30%
7. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds)  29%

NORTHEAST

1. Microplastics                                     47%
2. Pesticides                                          47%
3. Pharmaceuticals                                46%
4. Lead                                                   45%
5. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds)  43%
6. PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid)           37%
7. Fertilizers                                            32%

SOUTH

1. Pesticides                                         55%
2. Pharmaceuticals                               46%
3. Microplastics                                     42%
4. Lead                                                  41%
5. Fertilizers                                          41%
6. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) 34%
7. PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid)          26%