Caribbean residents see climate change as a severe threat but most in US don’t — here’s why February 14, 2018 6.34am EST

Published by The Conversation
During the 2017 Atlantic basin hurricane season, six major storms – all of which were Category 3 or higher – produced devastating human, material and financial devastation across the southern United States and the Caribbean.
Last year’s above-average storm activity was foreseeable. Hurricane intensity ticked up in 2016 and scientists have predicted this trend will hold as global temperatures continue to rise.
Though people in the U.S. and the Caribbean share this increasing vulnerability to hurricanes, they hold very different opinions about the severity of climate change. According to results from the latest Vanderbilt University AmericasBarometer survey, a strong majority of Caribbean residents perceive climate change as a “very serious” problem. In contrast, just 44 percent of the U.S. public does.  Why the difference of opinion? Our research identifies two key factors: politics and risk perception. 

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Authors

1. Elizabeth J. ZechmeisterCornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science and Director of LAPOP, Vanderbilt University
   
2. Claire Q. EvansDoctoral Student, Political Science, Vanderbilt University