Ever wonder how many Idahoans believe climate change is actually happening, whether humans have anything to do with it, how we compare with those in other states or even among Idaho’s individual counties or its two congressional districts?
Wonder no more and head to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and its ambitious statistical model reflecting national survey results and indicators of the public’s understanding of climate change and policies.
“This breakthrough is providing valuable insights about public opinion and policy to decision-makers and advocates at all levels of American society,” the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication said in announcing its “major achievement in 2015.”
The interactive website allows you to quickly compare climate views and opinions on national and local levels, based on 2014 data. For instance, residents in which of Idaho’s two Congressional Districts think more than the other that climate change is happening? We’ll make this our last spoiler alert, but the survey says 63 percent of those in the eastern Idaho’s 2nd District believe it’s real while 56 percent of those in the 1st District do. Go figure, and if you want to know whether more people in Ada County, Bingham, Bear Lake, Canyon, Cassia, Washington or Owyhee counties believe, you might be surprised. Check it out here.