Americans Aren’t Afraid Of Climate Change
The Chapman University Fear Survey is released every year. The 2023 study tracks what Americans fear most. The survey asked what you are “afraid of, or very afraid of.”
Climate change ranked 20th (43.6% afraid of or very afraid of). This was below the fear of “China stealing US technology” (44.1%). Fear of “Corrupt government officials” took the top spot (60.1%).
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Last year, the survey required that Americans be 18 years old or older to participate. This was an internet-based survey. The universe of those polled included 1,014 participants. Data collection was conducted from March 27 to April 4, 2023.
Drinking Water and Pollution
Fears associated with issues related to climate change were more feared than climate change itself. “Pollution of drinking water” ranked 7th (50.0%). “Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes” ranked 11th. (47.8%).
Those who are deeply concerned with climate change and a future that will have increasing floods, famine, drought, disease, and hurricanes should find it depressing that the study points to a lack of concern among many Americans regarding the life-altering effects of the climate crisis over the next several decades. Drinking water may be a problem today. However, catastrophic changes to the climate are a growing threat that could obliterate part of the global population and lead to the need for migrations that will include hundreds of millions of people.
A Global Problem
These results from the survey are of Americans, not the global population. The opinions of people immediately threatened by climate change or those trying to mitigate its danger may have been answered differently. Those in peril might respond differently to this survey in which “corporate tracking of personal data” ranked 17th at 45.1%, which was more feared than climate change by the Americans who took this survey.
