More Americans believe in angels than humans' role in global warming
December 08, 2009
A Pew poll released late last month found that just 36 percent of Americans believe humans are responsible for accelerating global climate change, which scientists say mushroomed after the industrial revolution due to humans' dependence on carbon-based fuels.
Carbon dioxide, which is produced by the combustion of oil, coal and other fuels, was ruled a "dangerous" threat to public health by the Environmental Protection Agency Monday. It increases the propensity of the earth's atmosphere to retain heat.
But a near-consensus from scientists doesn't have Americans convinced. The Pew poll found that while 57 percent believe that the earth's climate is changing, just 36 percent believe that humans are responsible. 77 percent believed that global warming existed in Pew's poll conducted in 2007.
The 36 percent who believe in human-caused climate change is fewer than the number of Americans who apparently believe they're protected by guardian angels, some 55 percent, according to a poll published in 2008.
"Half of all Americans believe they are protected by guardian angels, one-fifth say they've heard God speak to them, one-quarter say they have witnessed miraculous healings, 16 percent say they've received one and 8 percent say they pray in tongues, according to a survey" conducted by Baylor University published in September of 2008.
The Baylor survey was conducted in 2007 by telephone calls to 1,648 adults, who were asked more than 300 questions about their spiritual beliefs.
That's not all. A blog at the website of Foreign Policy notes that more Americans believe in UFOs and ghosts than do anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming.
34 percent of Americans said they believed in UFOs and ghosts in a Halloween 2007 survey conducted by Ipsos for the Associated Press.
Just 39 percent of Americans said in a February poll that they believe in evolution.
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