British public's belief in climate threat declines

Public conviction about the threat of climate change has declined sharply, according to a new poll in the UK. The proportion of adults who believe climate change is "definitely" a reality dropped by 30% over the last year, from 44% to 31%, in the latest survey by Ipsos Mori. Overall around nine out of 10 people questioned still appear to accept some degree of global warming. But the steep drop in those without doubts will raise fears that it will be harder to persuade the public to support actions to curb the problem, particularly higher prices for energy and other goods. The true level of doubt is also probably underestimated because the poll only questioned 16 to 64-year-olds. People over 65 are more likely to be sceptical, the researchers said. "It's going to be a hard sell to make people make changes to their [people's] behaviours unless there's something else in it for them � [such as] energy efficiency measures saving money on fuel bills," said Edward Langley, Ipsos Mori's head of environment research. "It's a hard sell to tell people not to fly off for weekends away if you're not wholly convinced by the links. Even people who are [convinced] still do it." Just over 1,000 people in Great Britain were questioned on their views on climate change as part of Ipsos Mori's regular online omnibus poll on a range of issues. The results are weighted to reflect social groups and the split between men and women. Thirty one per cent of those polled said climate change was "definitely" happening, while 29% said it "it's looking like it could be a reality", and another 31% said the problem was exaggerated, a category which rose by 50% compared to a year ago. Only 6% said climate change was not happening at all, and 3% said they did not know.