The percentage of Americans who believe in global warming has reached the highest level since the fall of 2009, rebounding from a period of significant decline, a new survey reports.
A key factor influencing Americans’ views about global warming is their personal observations about the weather and temperature changes, according to the latest National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change.
About half of Americans now point to their personal experiences as the main reasons they believe in global warming, the poll shows.
This was the fourth year the survey was conducted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
When the initial survey was done in the fall of 2008, 72 percent of Americans said they believed there was solid evidence that average temperatures on Earth have been getting warmer over the past four decades.
The number declined to 65 percent in the fall of 2009 and fell further to 58 percent a year later. But the most recent survey shows that in the fall of 2011, the number rebounded to 62 percent, ending the period of decline.
