Roughly three of every eight registered voters in the U.S. believes that "global warming is a hoax," according to a national poll released Tuesday by the firm Public Policy Polling (PPP).
The automated telephone poll asked 1,247 American registered voters their beliefs on a wide range of topics broadly categorized as "conspiracy theories" in the firm's press release.
When asked, "Do you believe global warming is a hoax, or not?" 37% of Americans said they do, while 51% said they do not. Twelve percent of those surveyed were not sure.
Dr. Jeff Masters, co-founder and director of meteorology at Weather Underground, isn't hedging his bets:
"So, who is more likely to be correct -- the 97% of all publishing climate scientists, who view the evidence as showing that humans are primarily responsible for global warming? Or the 37% of the public who view global warming as a hoax, who have been subject to a massive PR campaign by the richest industry in human history, to make them believe just that? I'll go with the 97% of climate scientists."
Beliefs Mirror Political Views
Consistent with other surveys, the answers strongly reflected political preferences.
Among respondents who said they had voted for President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, 77% said they do not believe global warming is a hoax, compared to 12% who do. By contrast, 61% of respondents who voted for former Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012 said they do believe global warming is a hoax, versus 24% who said they do not.
Fourteen percent of self-identified "very liberal" voters believe global warming is a hoax, and just 12% of "somewhat liberal" voters do. Those numbers increase to 52% for "somewhat conservative" voters and 71% for "very conservative" respondents.
Partisan affiliations reflected this ideological split, with just 11% of Democrats but 58% of Republicans saying global warming is a hoax. Among independents, 41% agreed and 51% disagreed with the "hoax" characterization.
A 2011 study conducted by Yale University and George Mason University found that 62% of Democrats but only 19% of "Tea Party" members believed that global warming is happening and primarily caused by human activities.
In that survey, Republicans and Tea Party members were more than twice as likely as Democrats to believe that there is a "lot of disagreement among scientists" about whether global warming is happening.
No Gender Gap
The PPP survey did not find much of a gender gap on the climate-change issue, with 35% of women and 39% of men agreeing with the portrayal of global warming as a "hoax," and 52% of women and 50% of men disagreeing.
Young adults (ages 18 to 29) are slightly less likely than their elders to profess outright skepticism about climate change, with 31% saying global warming is a hoax; among older age groups, anywhere from 36% to 41% of respondents said so.
Paradoxically, older groups are also more likely to believe global warming is real, as young adults are far more likely to be "not sure" about the question. Fully 21% of those under 30 were unsure vs. 9% to 13% of middle-aged and older adults.
(MORE: Full PPP poll results)
Other Beliefs Examined
The PPP poll asked a range of questions on various topics ranging from the controversial to the esoteric.
Five percent of those polled agreed that the "exhaust seen in the sky behind airplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons," an alleged phenomenon widely referred to in Internet conversation as "chemtrails."
One in five Americans agreed that there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, a link researchers have not found.
The least popular -- and perhaps most bizarre -- belief investigated by the pollsters involved so-called "lizard people." Only four percent of Americans agree that "shape-shifting reptilian people control our world by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies," while 88 percent disagree and seven percent are not sure.
The PPP poll, taken March 27 through March 30, has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points for the overall sample, though the margin of error will naturally be higher for breakdowns such as gender and political affiliation. In its press release, PPP says the poll "was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization."
Updated April 4, 2013, to add margin-of-error information and correct the destination of the "Full PPP poll results" link.
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