Public underestimate human impact on climate change, research suggests

STUDY: Survey of misconceptions of toll taken on planet

People underestimate how hot the world has become and how much plastic waste has ended up in the environment, research suggests.

Misconceptions about the impact humans are having on the planet are widespread, according to the study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London.

Only a quarter of people quizzed by Ipsos Mori for the research correctly identified that all 20 of the world’s hottest years on record had occurred in the last 22 years.

On average, people guessed that 12 of the hottest years had occurred in that time, the figures show.

Members of the public also underestimate how much plastic waste has ended up in the environment, suggesting on average that just under half (49%) of the 6.3 billion tonnes of the material created globally has ended up in landfill or as litter – when the true figure is 79%.

Just 9% has been recycled, far lower than the average estimate of 26% by people polled.

Only a third of the public correctly think that the population sizes of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles in the world has fallen by 60% since 1970, estimated by conservation organisations WWF and ZSL.

Half of people thought wildlife populations had fallen by 25% in that time.

There were also misconceptions about where greenhouse gases are coming from, with those polled suggesting that 20% of pollution came from flying – compared to the real figure of 2%.

People also overestimated the role of recycling in reducing their carbon footprint, and underestimated the impact of avoiding one transatlantic flight.

And just 21% selected having one fewer child as a top way of cutting an individual’s greenhouse gas emissions, although it is the most significant thing that can be done, the research said.

Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London and author of The Perils Of Perception: Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything, said: “It is vital to understand public misperceptions about climate change and the natural environment – but not just so that we can bombard people with more information.”

He said his book showed “we can’t just provide facts and expect people to hear them and act, regardless of how extraordinary those facts are”.

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We can’t just provide facts and expect people to hear them and act

Almost 80% of the 6.3 billion tonnes of material created globally ends up as litter or in landfill.