Poll finds some people see climate change threat as equal to the threat of terrorism

Reuters

A new Pew Research Center poll of nearly 42,000 people across 38 countries found the threat of climate change is nearly as great as terrorism from ISIS.

Sixty-two percent of those polled said that ISIS was a “major threat” to their country, while 61 percent also identified global warming as a major threat.

Concerns about ISIS were concentrated in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States, while climate change worries came from 13 countries mostly in Latin America and Africa.

Americans, for example, saw the ISIS as more of a major threat than global warming by a 74 to 56 percent margin. In addition, 71 percent of U.S. citizens polled saw cyber-attacks as a major threat.

Fears of terrorism were also present in Germany and France where an influx of refugees from the Middle East and a series of attacks has fueled fears about growing extremism across the European continent. German and French citizens said that ISIS was the biggest threat at 77 percent and 88 percent, respectively. Some 63 percent of Germans and 72 percent of French citizens saw climate change as a major threat.

There were some fears about the health of the economy; 51 percent of all respondents believe slow growth was of great concern. Refugee worries were also prevalent, with 39 percent of those polled citing them as a major danger.

When it comes to fears about nations, the United States came out on top; 35 percent of respondents believe America is the biggest threat to global security. The U.S. outpaced both Russia and China: each came in at 31 percent.

Pew put the blame for the increase in concerns about the U.S. squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. president.

“In general, there has been little change in the global threat assessment since the last time these questions were asked,” the report said. “But worries about the U.S. and its power and influence have increased in many countries in Europe and around the world since the election of Donald Trump.” 

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