More people recognize global warming as a problem

Bush admits humans contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, global warming

Most Americans say they only have to step out their front door to see the effects of global warming, and President Bush has even commented on his concerns.

"I recognize that the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gasses caused by humans is contributing to the problem," he said.

According to a new poll conducted by ABC News, Time Magazine and Stanford University, over half of Americans say temperatures where they live are up and weather patterns are more unstable. They think global warming has something to do with it.

Eight-five percent of Americans believe global warming is probably happening; that's up 5 percent from 1998.

More info

If you would like to learn more about global warming, you can log on to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site, set up specifically for providing information about climate change, emissions and what they future holds.

"The climate system is very complicated, and we're essentially running an experiment on that system," said Granger Morgan, a national expert on global change at Carnegie-Mellon University. "We only get one shot at this, and the problem is we don't how hard we can push on the system before very substantial changes start happening."

But though most Americans suspect global warming is the wacky weather culprit, fewer than four in ten are sure of it.

Survey results show that only one-third of the country thinks scientists agree that there is global warming. That's despite a broad scientific consensus that the world is heating up.

"All the computer projections have been done, you know, and there's thousands of them now," said scientist and author, Dr. Tim Flannery. "There's not one suggesting the planet's going to cool, you know. They're all suggesting the planet's going to warm to some extent."

Most want the government to take action, but also admit that they personally have given a lot of thought to the impact by how they live their own lives.


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