Most Australians don’t think climate change is a serious problem
Most Australians don’t see climate change as an extremely serious problem right now, despite warnings this decade is critical in the fight for a liveable planet.
Griffith University has released its annual climate action survey, which explores what thousands of Australians think about climate change.
Most respondents (57%) believe Australia has started to feel the effects of climate change. But only 15% say climate change is an extremely serious problem now.
About 8% think its effects will be felt within the next decade and 13% say they’ll be apparent within 50 years.
The results expose a gap between how Australians perceive the threat, and what the science says.The IPCC warns the planet is likely to cross a critical warming threshold within the next decade.
To fend that off, an immediate shift away from fossil fuels is needed to hold warming to 1.5°C. Beyond that, humanity will find it far harder to cope with climate-fuelled floods, heat waves, drought, crop failures and rising seas.
71% of Australians feel either fairly or very concerned about climate change.But given what’s at stake and how little time there is left, it's a lukewarm response.
The survey showed 37% of respondents had directly experienced at least one extreme weather event or natural disaster in the past year.
Those people showed much greater concern about climate change and expressed greater urgency about the need for action.