Poll: Americans, Politics and Science Issues

The Pew Research Center’s new analysis of public opinion on a broad set of science-related topics shows that while the role of party and ideological differences is not uniform, political ideology remains the strongest factor influencing climate change beliefs. 71% of Democrats and leaning independents say the Earth is warming due to human activity, compared with just 27% of Republican counterparts– and these differences hold even when taking into account characteristics such as age and race. Also consistent with past polls, a clear majority of Hispanics (70%) say the Earth is warming due to human activity, compared with 44% among non-Hispanic whites.