INDReporter

The Earth is Getting Hotter?

by Patrick Flanagan

According to a survey released by the Pew Research Center, belief in global warming is up after a four-year slump.

For some reason, when the Obama's moved into the White House in 2009, the number of Americans willing to admit belief in global warming plummeted, according to Pew Research Center survey data.

Now, four years later, the believers are back.

This year's national survey of 1,511 adults, conducted Oct. 4-7 and released last week, shows a return to pre-2009 poll results.

Sixty-seven percent of the people polled for this year's survey say there is solid evidence that the Earth's temperature has steadily risen in recent decades -- up 4 percentage points from last year and 10 points from 2009. Though a harder pill to swallow, the number of Americans willing to point the finger at themselves and attribute the planet's rising temperature to human activity jumped from a low of 34 percent in 2010 to 42 percent.

Across party lines, Pew's survey did show an increase in Republican believers, but nothing major. The survey results still illustrate the influence of partisan ideology. Only 16 percent of the "conservative" Republicans surveyed say global warming is human caused, and 51 percent say they don't believe global warming exists at all.

As expected, more Democrats -- 85 percent -- say there is solid evidence of warming, while only 65 percent of Independents and 48 percent of Republicans agree. Worth mention is that the number of Democrat believers also took a significant dip with the presidency of Barack Obama, dropping from 83-75 percent between 2008-2009.

Click here for all the analysis and results of the Pew Research Center survey.