By Allie Osgood, Hannah Machiorlete, and Ada Barbee
Αccording to Why We Disagree About Climate Change author Mike Hulme, climate change has shifted from existing as a geological and environmental problem to a “social phenomenon” (xxv). Through this survey and analysis, we seek to understand the evaluation of climate change from the perspective of Portland citizens in the context of this global “social phenomenon”.
Methods
As part of our data collection procedure, we surveyed five random participants in the Portland downtown area, specifically in Pioneer Square. We used a convenience sampling method, therefore, our data can only be applied to our sample, but not to the general Portland population. The survey consisted of one question: if you compare climate change to other issues today, how important is it to you personally? They were asked to quantify their concern on a scale from one to ten, one being least concerning when compared to other issues and ten being most concerning. Afterwards, we asked for their opinions regarding climate change and paraphrased their responses on a Google Sheet. Our data was compiled with surveys from other Environmental Studies 160 students, totaling 123 responses from both the Portland downtown area and periphery.
“Climate change is something that everyone is responsible for”
– Anonymous Survey Response from PDX Downtown
Data Analysis
The average response value was a 7.8, with a range of values from 2 to 10, meaning that climate change was generally more important to responders than most other pertinent issues. Between women and men, average responses were the same as the total average, and the average for non-conforming gender identities was 6, though there was only one individual represented. The distribution of responses for gender varied, despite similar averages. Of the people whose response was 8, women outnumbered men with approximately 2.4 women for every 1 man. Of the people whose response was 10, men outnumbered women with approximately 1.8 men for every 1 woman. Therefore, men were more likely to think of climate change as their most important issue than women.
“It’s fact.” “We should’ve recognized it yesterday.”
– Anonymous Survey Response from PDX Downtown
We found similar small differences between other demographics. Downtown responders had a slight increase in response value, but only a 0.2 difference from the Portland periphery responders. The over 60 age group was on average more concerned about climate change, (with an average response of 8.3) than their counterparts from ages 30-60 (with an average response of 7.4) and under 30 (with an average response of 7.9). People who identify as Hispanic and/or Latino had the highest average evaluation of 8.3, comparable to the lowest value of 6.4 by the inferred race category Other/Unknown. However, these values should be scrutinized since our study is not representative of the Portland population.
National Comparison
Portland’s standing on climate change is greater than the national average. According to Pew Research Center’s The Politics of Climate report, 36% of American adults consider themselves “personally concerned” about climate issues to a large degree, while 38% are moderately concerned. Though we didn’t question responders about their belief in climate change, in the United States, 48% of adults believe in anthropogenic climate change. The partisan divide is prominent in US concern about climate change. Of the 36% of American adults that are more concerned about climate change, 72% are affiliated with the democratic party and 24% are affiliated with the republican party. Per the Pew Research Center’s survey, democrats are much more likely to care about climate change. The national political divide appears to be important in the conversation about climate change. Therefore, examining the political ideology distribution between Portland downtown and the periphery can shed some light on their similar average.
“Most important long-term issue we have. It’s unfortunate that our president doesn’t value it.”
-Anynonomous Survey Response from PDX Downtown
PDX Map of Voters for Clinton vs. Trump Across Districts
The 2016 presidential election in Portland was overwhelmingly in favor of the democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as opposed to her republican opponent. In the Portland periphery, about 50-70% of constituents voted democratically, and the downtown area voted 80-100% democratically. Since most people in Portland voted democratically, we can infer that there is a correlation between Portland’s political ideology and opinion on climate change. This is similar to the national correlation between climate change important and left-leaning political affiliation; however, since the US is more politically diverse than the Portland area, we see differences in opinions regarding climate change importance.
Cross-national Comparison
According to a Pew Global survey on climate change, the US median of responders who believe “Climate change is a very serious problem” is 45% of the national population, falling behind the global median of 54%. This may in part be due to the direct impact of climate change on the lives of people in particular countries, as another Pew study demonstrates the US is far less concerned about the personal impact of climate change, compared to Latin American and African countries, which also believe that climate change is a more severe problem. There appears to be a positive correlation between the perceived severity of climate change and concern about personal impact. The United States’ concern is consistently below the global averages in regard to personal affliction and immediate risk to humanity. Since Portland seems more concerned about climate change than the greater US, it seems that Portland also is more similar to other regions more concerned about climate change as well.
“It’s changing all the time”
– Anonymous Survey Response From PDX Periphery
Conclusion
In conclusion after analyzing the results, we were surprised that there wasn’t a greater difference among age groups. However, we also didn’t expect people over 60 and people under 30 to be closer together in average response than either were to the 30-60 age group. We hypothesized that people closer in age group would have resembled each other in responses, and younger people would care more about climate change than older people. There are multiple factors that influence people’s opinion on climate change, and the two correlations we found (political preference and personal impact of climate change) are likely two of many correlations. From our own experiences, we hear about climate change as a one-dimensional, scientific problem. However, these results indicate that there are a plethora of social, political, scientific, personal, and many other values that lie behind the opinion on the risk of climate change and the importance of climate action.
Works Cited
Hulme, Mike. Why We Disagree About Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press, 2009.