by Lydia Saad, Gallup.com

PRINCETON, NJ -- Although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41% now say it is exaggerated. This represents the highest level of public skepticism about mainstream reporting on global warming seen in more than a decade of Gallup polling on the subject.

As recently as 2006, significantly more Americans thought the news underestimated the seriousness of global warming than said it exaggerated it, 38% vs. 30%. Now, according to Gallup's 2009 Environment survey, more Americans say the problem is exaggerated rather than underestimated, 41% vs. 28%.

Since 1997, Republicans have grown increasingly likely to believe media coverage of global warming is exaggerated,
and that trend continues in the 2009 survey; however, this year marks a
relatively sharp increase among independents as well. In just the past
year, Republican doubters grew from 59% to 66%, and independents from
33% to 44%, while the rate among Democrats remained close to 20%.

Notably, all of the past year's uptick in cynicism about the
seriousness of global warming coverage occurred among Americans 30 and
older. The views of 18- to 29-year-olds, the age group generally most
concerned about global warming and most likely to say the problem is
underestimated, didn't change.

Dampened Concern

Apart from these findings about news coverage of global warming, the
March 5-8 poll shows in a similar vein that Americans are a bit less
concerned about the seriousness of global warming per se than they have
been in recent years.

Six in 10 Americans indicate that they are highly worried about
global warming, including 34% who are worried "a great deal" and 26% "a
fair amount." Overall worry is similar to points at the start of the
decade, but is down from 66% a year ago and from 65% in 2007.

The 2009 Gallup Environment survey measured public concern about
eight specific environmental issues. Not only does global warming rank
last on the basis of the total percentage concerned either a great deal
or a fair amount, but it is the only issue for which public concern
dropped significantly in the past year.

Also, compared with last year, fewer Americans believe the effects
of global warming have begun to occur. The figure is now 53%, down from
61% in March 2008. At the same time, a record-high 16% say the effects
will never occur. (Prior to now, Gallup polling found no more than 11%
of Americans saying the effects of global warming would never happen.)

Most Doubt Warming Is a "Serious Threat"

Altogether, 68% of U.S. adults believe the effects of global warming
will be manifest at some point in their lifetimes, indicating the
public largely believes the problem is real. However, only 38% of
Americans, similar to the 40% found in 2008, believe it will pose "a
serious threat" to themselves or their own way of life.

This fear that global warming will pose a serious threat in one's
lifetime steadily expanded from 25% in 1997 to 40% in 2008. The drop
this year to 38% is not statistically significant; however, it is the
first time since 1997 that the rate of concern has not increased.

Bottom Line

Americans generally believe global warming is real. That sets the
U.S. public apart from the global-warming skeptics who assembled this
week in New York City to try to debunk the science behind climate
change. At the same time, with only 34% of Americans saying they worry
"a great deal" about the problem, most Americans do not view the issue
in the same dire terms as the many prominent leaders advancing global
warming as an issue.

Importantly, Gallup's annual March update on the environment shows a
drop in public concern about global warming across several different
measures, suggesting that the global warming message may have lost some
footing with Americans over the past year. Gallup has documented
declines in public concern about the environment at times when other
issues, such as a major economic downturn or a national crisis like
9/11, absorbed Americans' attention. To some extent that may be true
today, given the troubling state of the U.S. economy. However, the
solitary drop in concern this year about global warming, among the
eight specific environmental issues Gallup tested, suggests that
something unique may be happening with the issue.

Certainly global warming has received tremendous attention this
decade, including with Al Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary "An
Inconvenient Truth." It is not clear whether the troubled economy has
drawn attention away from the global warming message or whether other
factors are at work. It will be important to see whether the 2009
findings hold up in next year's update of the annual environmental
survey.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,012 national
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 5-8, 2009. For results based
on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence
that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones
(for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for
respondents who are cell-phone only).

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical
difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the
findings of public opinion polls.

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