By BRENDAN NYHAN
The New York Times - July 5, 2014
Do Americans understand the scientific consensus about issues like climate change and evolution?
At
least for a substantial portion of the public, it seems like the answer
is no. The Pew Research Center, for instance, found that 33 percent of
the public believes “Humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time” and 26 percent think
there is not “solid evidence that the average temperature on Earth has
been getting warmer over the past few decades.” Unsurprisingly, beliefs
on both topics are divided along religious and partisan lines. For
instance, 46 percent of Republicans said there is not solid evidence of
global warming, compared with 11 percent of Democrats.
As a result
of surveys like these, scientists and advocates have concluded that
many people are not aware of the evidence on these issues and need to be
provided with correct information. That’s the impulse behind efforts
like the campaign to publicize the fact that 97 percent of climate scientists believe human activities are causing global warming.
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