Kiwis get real on climate change

NEW Zealanders are becoming increasingly convinced that climate change is real and that human activity has caused it, according to research.

The study by Victoria University and the University of Auckland examined climate change beliefs over a six-year period from 2009.

“The two beliefs we investigated were if people believe climate change is real, and if people believe climate change is caused by humans,” said Dr Taciano Milfont of Victoria University.

“We found that the levels of agreement to both beliefs have steadily increased over the six-year period. This increase in belief has been most pronounced in more recent years, from about 2013 onwards.”

The study found 33% of New Zealanders strongly agreed climate change was real in 2009 while 4% strongly disagreed, with other respondents ranged over a spectrum in between. In 2014, 40% strongly agreed it was real and 2% strongly disagreed.

In 2009, 17% strongly agreed humans were the cause of climate change while 6% strongly disagreed, but in 2014, 26% strongly agreed and 3%strongly disagreed.

“Overall, belief in the reality of climate change was higher at all times than agreement with the idea that climate change is caused by humans. But people who tended to increase their level of agreement in one climate change belief also tended to increase their agreement level in the other belief,” said Milfont.

“Past research has relied on a snapshot of data from one-off public opinion polls. But data from opinion polls are based on distinct individuals.

“We are the first to examine whether climate change beliefs held by the same group of individuals, in this case, more than 10 000 New Zealanders, are changing or not.”

The increase in climate change beliefs could be attributed to a number of factors. “Other studies suggest that climate change beliefs and concerns may change after exposure to extreme weather events, as well as mainstream media and awareness campaigns,” Milfont said. – Xinhua