Today’s Weather Affects Attitudes on Global Warming

By far, most climate scientists point to evidence that human activity contributes to volatile weather, severe storms and droughts, melting polar ice and climate change. But it’s human nature to ignore long-term evidence and instead rely on day-to-day observations. Individuals check a weather forecast – if it’s chilly or snowing outside, that’s enough to reduce evidence of global warming for them, suggests research from Columbia Business School’s Center for Decision Sciences. The researchers compared relying on daily weather observations for opinions on climate change to checking wallets to assess the state of the economy, reports Jeanna Byrner for LiveScience.com. Skeptics and supporters alike use extreme events to draw support in the climate-change debates – though scientists have long insisted that any one event is insignificant evidence for an overall trend. The value of entire industries and huge investments hinge on public energy policies guided by public opinion. – YaleGlobal