Why do people become climate change deniers? In fact, faced with a scientific community united in underlining the existence of climate change and the anthropic origin of the greenhouse gas emissions that have led to these dramatic changes, the question arises spontaneously. Why, when faced with scientific evidence, do many people persist in denying the obvious?
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Climate change deniers are declining in the United States
In view of the next presidential elections, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication wanted to test the waters to understand what the position of Americans is towards climate change, comparing current data with those recorded in 2010.
Well, it can be stated with a certain relief that the number of climate change deniers, in recent years, has gradually decreased, at least in the States.
In Texas and North Carolina, for example, in 2010 only 60% of people declared that climate change was underway, a percentage which in the latest survey was instead 72%. In Indiana, to give another example, it went from 55% in 2010 to 65% in 2023.
Climate denialism has decreased on average, even in those states where the Republicans have absolutely no fear of losing control to the Democrats.
However, the situation is certainly not the best, not even after this slow acceptance of climate change: only 58% of Americans are in fact ready to say that climate change is the result of human activities such as the use of fossil fuels.
Read also: The 5 most common climate change skepticism claims
Growing green transition consensus
A study by the Pew Research Center, carried out last year, showed that about two-thirds of Americans are in favor of giving priority to the development of renewable energy, while also underlining the reluctance of US citizens to abandon fossil fuels.
And again, a recent study by the University of Colorado Boulder showed that for about two thirds of Americans, climate change is a priority. It is also interesting to know that, of the 67% of Americans who say they are concerned about the climate, 77% voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
Read also: How the climate crisis affects women and poor families the most
