NSAPOCC reveals belief in global warming is on the rise

February 29, 2012

The National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change (NSAPOCC), co-authored by Barry Rabe, has been published in the February 2012 edition of "Issues in Governance Studies" by The Brookings Institution.

The latest installment in the three-year survey, which was conducted in December 2011, reveals that a growing number of Americans believe global warming is occurring. The 62 percent "belief" mark is the highest level recorded since the fall of 2009. Last year, 58 percent of respondents believed in evidence of global warming.

The NSAPOCC also found that nearly a quarter of the respondents who believed in global warming attributed it to personal experiences with warmer temperatures and weather changes, a significant increase over previous years.

Rabe, a professor of public policy and the environment at the Ford School, is a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution. He co-authored the report with Christopher P. Borick from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

[Read the U-M press release]
[Media coverage]