Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey

Background: Global warming has significant negative consequences for human health, with some groups at greater risk than others. The extent to which the public is aware of these risks is unclear; the limited extant research has yielded discrepant findings. Objectives: This paper describes Americans&...

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Autores principales:	Edward W. Maibach, Jennifer M. Kreslake, Connie Roser-Renouf, Seth Rosenthal, Geoff Feinberg, Anthony A. Leiserowitz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Ubiquity Press 2015
Materias:	climate change global warming health effects risk perception public health health communication Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c66f44c4a1f843eca56b675bb9f17c1c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c66f44c4a1f843eca56b675bb9f17c1c2021-12-02T02:40:51ZDo Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey2214-999610.1016/j.aogh.2015.08.010https://doaj.org/article/c66f44c4a1f843eca56b675bb9f17c1c2015-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/1512https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996Background: Global warming has significant negative consequences for human health, with some groups at greater risk than others. The extent to which the public is aware of these risks is unclear; the limited extant research has yielded discrepant findings. Objectives: This paper describes Americans' awareness of the health effects of global warming, levels of support for government funding and action on the issue, and trust in information sources. We also investigate the discrepancy in previous research findings between assessments based on open- versus closed-ended questions. Methods: A nationally representative survey of US adults (N = 1275) was conducted online in October 2014. Measures included general attitudes and beliefs about global warming, affective assessment of health effects, <a title="Learn more about Vulnerable Populations" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/vulnerable-populations">vulnerable populations</a> and specific health conditions (open- and closed-ended), perceived risk, trust in sources, and support for government response. Findings: Most respondents (61%) reported that, before taking the survey, they had given little or no thought to how global warming might affect people's health. In response to a closed-ended question, many respondents (64%) indicated global warming is harmful to health, yet in response to an open-ended question, few (27%) accurately named one or more specific type of harm. In response to a closed-ended question, 33% indicated some groups are more affected than others, yet on an open-ended question only 25% were able to identify any disproportionately affected populations. Perhaps not surprising given these findings, respondents demonstrated only limited support for a government response: less than 50% of respondents said government should be doing more to protect against <a title="Learn more about Health Harm" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/health-harm">health harms</a> from global warming, and about 33% supported increased funding to public health agencies for this purpose. Respondents said their primary care physician is their most trusted source of information on this topic, followed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and their local public health department. Conclusions: Most Americans report a general sense that global warming can be harmful to health, but relatively few understand the types of harm it causes or who is most likely to be affected. Perhaps as a result, there is only moderate support for an expanded public health response. Primary care physicians and public health officials appear well positioned to educate the public about the health relevance of climate changeEdward W. MaibachJennifer M. KreslakeConnie Roser-RenoufSeth RosenthalGeoff FeinbergAnthony A. LeiserowitzUbiquity Pressarticleclimate changeglobal warminghealth effectsrisk perceptionpublic healthhealth communicationInfectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 81, Iss 3, Pp 396-409 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	climate change global warming health effects risk perception public health health communication Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	climate change global warming health effects risk perception public health health communication Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Edward W. Maibach Jennifer M. Kreslake Connie Roser-Renouf Seth Rosenthal Geoff Feinberg Anthony A. Leiserowitz Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
description	Background: Global warming has significant negative consequences for human health, with some groups at greater risk than others. The extent to which the public is aware of these risks is unclear; the limited extant research has yielded discrepant findings. Objectives: This paper describes Americans' awareness of the health effects of global warming, levels of support for government funding and action on the issue, and trust in information sources. We also investigate the discrepancy in previous research findings between assessments based on open- versus closed-ended questions. Methods: A nationally representative survey of US adults (N = 1275) was conducted online in October 2014. Measures included general attitudes and beliefs about global warming, affective assessment of health effects, <a title="Learn more about Vulnerable Populations" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/vulnerable-populations">vulnerable populations</a> and specific health conditions (open- and closed-ended), perceived risk, trust in sources, and support for government response. Findings: Most respondents (61%) reported that, before taking the survey, they had given little or no thought to how global warming might affect people's health. In response to a closed-ended question, many respondents (64%) indicated global warming is harmful to health, yet in response to an open-ended question, few (27%) accurately named one or more specific type of harm. In response to a closed-ended question, 33% indicated some groups are more affected than others, yet on an open-ended question only 25% were able to identify any disproportionately affected populations. Perhaps not surprising given these findings, respondents demonstrated only limited support for a government response: less than 50% of respondents said government should be doing more to protect against <a title="Learn more about Health Harm" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/health-harm">health harms</a> from global warming, and about 33% supported increased funding to public health agencies for this purpose. Respondents said their primary care physician is their most trusted source of information on this topic, followed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and their local public health department. Conclusions: Most Americans report a general sense that global warming can be harmful to health, but relatively few understand the types of harm it causes or who is most likely to be affected. Perhaps as a result, there is only moderate support for an expanded public health response. Primary care physicians and public health officials appear well positioned to educate the public about the health relevance of climate change
format	article
author	Edward W. Maibach Jennifer M. Kreslake Connie Roser-Renouf Seth Rosenthal Geoff Feinberg Anthony A. Leiserowitz
author_facet	Edward W. Maibach Jennifer M. Kreslake Connie Roser-Renouf Seth Rosenthal Geoff Feinberg Anthony A. Leiserowitz
author_sort	Edward W. Maibach
title	Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
title_short	Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
title_full	Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
title_fullStr	Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
title_full_unstemmed	Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey
title_sort	do americans understand that global warming is harmful to human health? evidence from a national survey
publisher	Ubiquity Press
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/c66f44c4a1f843eca56b675bb9f17c1c
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Do Americans Understand That Global Warming Is Harmful to Human Health? Evidence From a National Survey

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