New Yorkers worry about global warming impacts, survey shows

Science Daily: A new survey of New Yorkers finds that most are convinced global warming is happening now and more should be done by key leaders to help New York City deal with climate change. The survey is the first-ever study of New Yorkers' opinions about global warming and was designed and funded by researchers at Columbia and Yale Universities, and led by the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia.

The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research International, is based on English and Spanish telephone interviews with a representative sample of 1,000 adults living in New York City's five boroughs. The interviews took place from November 28 to December 16, 2007. The survey's key findings include:

* A large majority of New Yorkers are convinced that global warming is happening (78%), and of that number, 82 percent believe that global warming is caused mainly by human activities or caused equally by humans and natural changes.

* A majority of New Yorkers (60%) say they are personally worried about global warming. Further, 22 percent believe that global warming is already having dangerous impacts on the city while an additional 30 percent believe dangerous impacts are imminent within the next 10 years.

* Large majorities of New Yorkers believe that global warming will cause more heat waves (85%); energy blackouts (79%); worse storms, hurricanes and tornadoes (79%); increased rates of disease (72%); and flooding of subways, tunnels and airports (70%).

* Finally, a majority (69%) say it is likely that parts of New York City will need to be abandoned due to rising sea levels over the next 50 years.

"New Yorkers believe global warming is going to hit home hard and want their leaders to act," said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change (YPCC) and co-principal investigator at the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University.

"Recent vivid and memorable media coverage of climate change impacts around the world and domestically have brought global warming onto the radar screen of the residents of New York, elevating it to a risk worth worrying about," said Elke Weber, co-director of CRED, professor of Psychology and the Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business at Columbia University….

Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, Jet Lowe, US Department of the Interior, Wikimedia Commons