Several parts of the United States experienced extreme weather situations in the past one year and majority of the Americans attributed it to climate change. In recent Pew Research Center survey, the analysts say that the people, irrespective of their political affiliation opined changes in climate conditions led to extreme weather situation in the country.
CLIMATE CHANGE; EXPERIENCE
Pew centre said that around four-in-ten Americans pointed out that their local community experienced severe weather like floods and intense storms (43%) or long periods of unusually hot weather (42%) in the past year. Some others also said of experiencing droughts or water shortages (31%), major wildfires (21%) or rising sea levels that erode beaches and shorelines (16%). The survey found 71 per cent of Americans attributing at least one of these five forms of extreme weather in the past year. Among those who have, more than eight-in-ten say climate change contributed at least a little to each type of event.
POLITICAL
On climate change, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the change contributed a lot. Among those who say their community has experienced severe weather like floods or intense storms in the past year, 95% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say climate change contributed at least a little, compared with 65% of Republicans and GOP leaners. But while 64% of these Democrats say climate change contributed a lot, just 24% of Republicans say the same.
REGIONAL
In the West, for example, 62% of adults overall report that their community has faced long periods of unusually hot weather in the past year. That includes 74% of Democrats in the region, compared with 46% of Republicans. Similarly, among adults living in the South, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say their local community experienced severe weather like floods or intense storms in the past year (58% vs. 46%).
According to the United States Environment Protection Agency Since 1901, the average surface temperature across the contiguous 48 states has risen at an average rate of 0.17°F per decade . Average temperatures have risen more quickly since the late 1970s (0.32 to 0.55°F per decade since 1979). Nine of the top 10 warmest years on record for the contiguous 48 states have occurred since 1998, and 2012 and 2016 were the two warmest years on record.
It said that some parts of the United States have experienced more warming than others. The North, the West, and Alaska have seen temperatures increase the most, while some parts of the Southeast have experienced little change.
