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World View
Tue Dec 02, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton, with our weekly segment on Global Climate Change. If you're on a
tropical coastline, with the sea sloshing at your front door, then you might worry about
global warming. Put yourself in the frozen north, and the concept may not sound so bad,
unless your village is sinking into what was once permafrost.
How does the rest of the world feel about climate change? Well, back in the early nineties, a
Gallup poll asked people in 24 countries for their opinions. For Germans, 73 percent called
global warming a "very serious" threat, but only a quarter of Nigerians felt that way. The
U.S. was on the fence, with nearly half of Americans feeling that global warming was a
significant threat.
A decade has passed since that poll was taken. What's the climate like today? Each year a
Canadian company called Environics International takes the pulse of environmental attitudes
around the globe. This year they checked on 30 countries, asking what the world should do
about climate change. Overall, about three out of four people said they were dissatisfied
with the pace of global climate talks. In the U.S., 79 percent say they're ready for a
binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The sentiment is even stronger in
Great Britain, Canada, and Argentina, where over 90 percent of respondents want a climate
agreement. And, remember the Kyoto Protocol? The U.S. and several other countries have
declined to support it, while 119 nations have given a thumbs-up. If Russia or the United
States joins the crowd, then Kyoto becomes international law.
Meteorologist Bob Henson sent in today's story. The Weather Notebook's Climate Change series
is funded in part by the New England Science Center Collaborative. Thanks to Technical
Producer Doug Sanborn for putting it all together.
Today's Links
Environics International:
http://www.environicsinternational.com/
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