With numerous natural disasters striking the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean this month, it’s logical to want to make a connection to global warming. And though it might explain some patterns, as the Los Angeles Times states, “climate scientists are generally loathe to say that any particular fire, flood, drought, or hurricane was caused by climate change.” Regardless of the link between climate change and natural disasters, global warming is real, and a new study finds that Latinos are the most engaged demographic on this topic.
Climate Change in the Latino Mind: May 2017, a report from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, finds that “Latinos are more convinced global warming is happening and human-caused, more worried about it, perceive greater risks, are more supportive of climate change policies, and are more willing to get involved politically.” Researchers surveyed 2,054 English- and Spanish-speaking Latinos and found that Latinos who speak Spanish are more committed to the issue. The results for this survey are compared against Climate Change in the American Mind – a study the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication also conducted in May.
One particularly interesting finding is that twice as many Latinos as non-Latinos say they have been harmed by “extreme heat waves, drought, or polluted air.” The rest of the study looks at how often they speak about it with families, how concerned they are about global warming, and who needs to act in order to slow down climate change.
Check out the entire study here.