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The most important environmental issues facing the world today are Global warming related issues (53%, down 2% from March 2008), ahead of Pollution (24%, up 1%), Depletion of Resources (17%, up 3%) and Water management and Drought (13%, down 8%). These are the results of a recent telephone Morgan Poll on the most important environmental issues facing the world and Australia conducted in late May 2009.

The most important environmental issue facing Australia today is Water management & Drought (36%, down 10%) ahead of Global warming related issues (27%, down 1%), Natural disasters (20%, up 1%) and Pollution issues (19%, unchanged).

After the recent devastating Victorian Bushfires there has been a rise in the number of Australians that view Bushfires (4%, up 3%) as the most important environmental issue facing Australia.

When looking closely at Global warming and the problems associated with it, 30% (unchanged) of Australians cited Climate change, Atmospheric change while 23% (up 3%) mentioned Rising sea levels and 19% (unchanged) associated the Melting of polar ice caps as a problem related to Global warming.

A clear, but reduced, majority of Australians aged 14+ (58%, down 6%) believe “If we don’t act now it will be too late” in relation to Global warming compared to 26% (up 7%) that say about Global warming that “Concerns are exaggerated.”

Fewer Australians than in previous years (12%, down 2%) say about Global warming that “It is already too late” while just 4% (up 1%) can’t say.

Gary Morgan says:   

“Although the global financial crisis is now considered the most important issue facing the world (51%, up 27% since March 2008) and Australia (51%, up 28%) — a significant number of Australians still consider the environment as a major global problem (21%, down 14%) and a problem for Australia (17%, down 13%).

“Australians clearly view Global warming related issues (53%) as the biggest environmental issue facing the world with just 7% of Australians saying that they either “Don’t believe it or don’t think it’s a big problem” when asked what problems they associate with Global warming.

“The biggest change in an Australian context is the large fall in the number of Australians who regard Water management Issues (22%, down 10%) as the most important environmental issue facing Australia.”

 

Respondents were asked:  “What do you believe are the important environmental issues facing the World today?” and “What do you believe are the important environmental issues facing Australia today?”

These findings come from a special Roy Morgan survey conducted in Australia on attitudes towards environmental issues facing the World and Australia in the future. In Australia, a cross-section of 684 men and women aged 14 or over were interviewed by telephone on May 20-21, 2009.

For further information:

Gary Morgan:     Office +61 3 9224 5213 Mobile +61 411 129 094

Michele Levine:   Office +61 3 9224 5215 Mobile +61 411 129 093

Table 1: Most important environmental issue facing the World and Australia

	Most important environmental issue facing the World			Most important environmental issue facing Australia
	2006	2008	2009	2006	2008	2009
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Global warming	35	27	24	13	10	10
Greenhouse effect, Greenhouse gases	15	11	11	7	6	8
Climate change	5	18	15	3	11	7
Ozone layer	5	3	3	2	2	1
Melting of polar ice caps	3	2	2	*	1	*
Extinction, Loss of species	2	3	3	2	1	2
Reduction in habitable land	1	1	1	2	1	2
Introduction of non-native species	-	*	*	1	1	*
El Nino	*	*	*	*	*	-
Total Global Warming Issues	56	55	53	26	28	27
Pollution (unspecified)	14	9	9	10	6	6
Air pollution	8	12	11	6	8	8
Water pollution	5	3	4	5	5	5
Cars, Exhaust from cars	3	4	4	3	4	4
Smog	*	-	1	*	*	*
Total Pollution	27	23	24	22	19	19
Energy crisis, Depletion of fossil fuels	10	9	8	6	7	5
Depletion of natural resources	9	6	8	6	6	5
Energy sources	-	2	2	-	3	3
Total Depletion of Resources	18	14	17	12	15	11
Water conservation, Water management	8	15	8	27	29	20
Erosion	*	*	*	*	1	1
Salinity	1	1	*	11	3	2
Total Water Management Issues	9	16	9	35	32	22
Drought	4	7	4	12	18	16
Total Water Management (Inc. Drought)	12	21	13	43	46	36
Hurricanes, Cyclones	1	-	*	*	*	1
Famine	1	3	1	-	*	-
Bushfires	-	*	1	*	1	4
Earthquakes	*	-	*	-	*	1
Flooding	*	1	1	--	1	3
Tsunami, Tidal waves	-	-	-	-	-	*
Total Natural Disasters (Inc. Drought)	7	10	7	13	19	20
Overpopulation	4	4	6	2	3	1
Urbanisation	*	1	*	1	1	1
Total Overpopulation / Urbanisation	4	4	6	3	3	2
Recycling	3	2	1	4	2	2
Nuclear waste	2	1	*	2	1	*
Toxic waste	*	1	1	1	1	1
Landfill	1	*	1	1	*	1
Plastic bags	1	1	1	1	*	1
Total Waste Management	7	4	3	7	4	5
Logging forests or deforestation	11	7	10	15	7	7
Mining	-	*	1	2	1	3
Bird Flu / Swine Flu	*	*	*	-	-	-
Other	9	17	12	10	20	15
Can’t say	8	5	5	9	8	8
None	-	-	2	-	3	4
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100

* Less than 1%; (Respondents could give more than one issue)

Table 2: Problems Associated with Global Warming

Respondents were then asked: “Next about Global warming. From what you know or have heard, what problems are associated with Global warming?”

Problems associated with Global warming
	2006	2008	2009
	(%)	(%)	(%)
Climate change, Atmospheric change	46	30	30
Melting of polar ice caps	31	19	19
Rising sea levels	23	20	23
Reduction in habitable land	6	6	4
Greenhouse effect, Heating up of planet, Thermal blanket	2	8	9
El Nino	1	2	*
Rising sea temperatures	1	8	8
Total Climate Change	69	60	62
Hurricanes, Cyclones	6	3	1
Flooding	5	5	5
Drought	3	9	8
Tsunami, Tidal waves	2	2	1
Earthquakes	1	1	1
Bushfires	1	2	2
Total Natural Disasters	13	15	12
Pollution	13	18	14
Depletion of ozone layer	7	5	6
Loss of species	2	5	5
Skin cancer	2	1	1
Fossil fuels	2	9	5
Deforestation, Cutting down trees	2	5	4
Natural phenomenon, Cyclic event,  Always happens	2	2	2
UV radiation	1	2	1
Overpopulation	*	3	2
Water conservation	1	6	3
Crop depletion, Food shortages	na	na	3
Other	7	11	7
Don’t believe it/ Don’t think it’s a big problem	na	na	7
Can’t Say	11	8	10
Total	100	100	100

Views about Global Warming

Respondents were then asked: “Which of the following is closest to your view about Global Warming?”

	Total all people aged 14+			Analysis by Sex and Age
	2006	2008	May 20/21 2009	Men	Women	14-17	18-24	25-34	35-49	50+
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Concerns are exaggerated	13	19	26	32	21	22	22	20	23	34
If we don’t act now it will be too late	67	64	58	52	65	49	64	65	61	53
It is already too late	15	14	12	11	11	27	12	12	12	8
Can’t say	5	3	4	5	3	2	2	3	4	5
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Total all people aged 14+			Analysis by States & Regions
	2006	2008	May 20/21 2009	Capital Cities	Country Areas	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA/NT	WA	Tas
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Concerns are exaggerated	13	19	26	24	31	26	26	30	25	21	25
If we don’t act now it will be too late	67	64	58	63	51	58	58	53	63	68	57
It is already too late	15	14	12	11	12	11	11	14	9	9	16
Can’t say	5	3	4	2	6	5	5	3	3	2	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

The research conducted for these questions was both qualitative (in that people were asked to use their own words) and quantitative (in that the ‘open-ended’ responses were analysed and ‘coded’ so that the results could be counted and reported as percentages).

For further information:

Gary Morgan:     Office +61 3 9224 5213 Mobile +61 411 129 094

Michele Levine:   Office +61 3 9224 5215 Mobile +61 411 129 093

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