Climate change seen as top threat, but U.S. power a growing worry - poll

[webfact]

Climate change seen as top threat, but U.S. power a growing worry - poll

 

FILE PHOTO: Vapor is released into the sky at a refinery in Wilmington, California March 24, 2012. REUTERS/Bret Hartman

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Climate change is the top security concern in a poll conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre, followed by Islamist terrorism and cyber attacks while respondents in a growing number of countries worried about the power and influence of the United States.

 

In 13 of 26 countries, people listed climate change as the top global threat, with the Islamic State militant group topping the list in eight and cyber attacks in four, the non-profit, non-partisan Pew Research Centre said in its report.

 

Worries about climate change have increased sharply since 2013, with double-digit percentage point increases seen in countries including the United States, Mexico, France, Britain, South Africa and Kenya, according to the poll of 27,612 people conducted between May and August, 2018.

 

North Korea's nuclear programme and the global economy were also significant concerns, while respondents in Poland named Russian power and influence as the top threat.

 

The largest shift in sentiment centred on the United States, it said, with a median of 45 percent of people naming U.S. power and influence as a threat in 2018, up from 25 percent in 2013, when Barack Obama was U.S. president.

 

In 10 countries, including Germany, Japan and South Korea, roughly half of respondents or more saw U.S. power and influence as a major threat to their nation, up from eight in 2017 and three in 2013, the poll showed.

 

In Mexico, where those concerns have spiked since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, the percentage jumped to 64 percent, the poll showed.

 

Trump has railed against illegal migration and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and is pressing to build a wall between the two countries.

 

In 2018, a median of 61 percent of respondents across all countries represented viewed cyber attacks as a serious concern, up from 54 percent in 2017.

 

The number of countries that saw Islamic State as a threat fell by double-digit percentage points in Israel, Spain, the United States and Japan.

 

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Jason Neely)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-11

 

[darksidedog]

I find it quite worrying that nearly half of the people around the world view the US as a major threat, numbers which have skyrocketed in the last two years, from 8 to 50%. Since Mr. Trump has taken power, what was almost a non issue, is one of the greatest concerns. To my mind, it means that Mr. Trump is giving an exceptionally poor performance, not assisted by his deceitful and manipulative means, or his fundamental character which so, so many see as fatally flawed. We all make mistakes, but I pray America doesn't repeat its huge one, in the elections next year, and the world can start to move forward again.

As for the climate, it should be our top priority, denial of which is at least partially to blame for the concern so many have with administrations who choose to ignore it.

[mtls2005]

Submitted without comment...

 

 

[TopDeadSenter]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

The largest shift in sentiment centred on the United States, it said, with a median of 45 percent of people naming U.S. power and influence as a threat in 2018, up from 25 percent in 2013, when Barack Obama was U.S. president.

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change" after the theory of global warming was well and truly debunked. Can't believe so many are blind to this.

'

[Ahab]

The USA did not start two massive world wars, but we did help clean them up. Maybe the rest of the world has little idea about what is important to "worry about".

[mtls2005]

20 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 

7 minutes ago, Ahab said:

but we did help clean them up.

 

Dilly, dilly.

[Ahab]

23 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

I find it quite worrying that nearly half of the people around the world view the US as a major threat, numbers which have skyrocketed in the last two years, from 8 to 50%. Since Mr. Trump has taken power, what was almost a non issue, is one of the greatest concerns. To my mind, it means that Mr. Trump is giving an exceptionally poor performance, not assisted by his deceitful and manipulative means, or his fundamental character which so, so many see as fatally flawed. We all make mistakes, but I pray America doesn't repeat its huge one, in the elections next year, and the world can start to move forward again.

As for the climate, it should be our top priority, denial of which is at least partially to blame for the concern so many have with administrations who choose to ignore it.

Trump will be re-elected in a landslide. Global warming/climate change/whatever they call the next world ending crisis will be assigned to the dust bin of history along with all the other apocalyptic visions (both religious and other) that have ever been created. The earths climate has always been changing, heck 10,000 or so years ago much of north America and northern Europe was covered by hundreds of feet of ice. The cave men BBQ wooly mammoths over wood fires definitely did not cause that warming period and in all likelihood a great portion of the currently observed warming is natural as well. 

 

Before you start calling me a holocaust denier (I mean global warming/whatever we are calling this crap theory this week) please tell me how much of the current warming is anthropogenic and how much is just a natural cycle? If you say it is all manmade you are a moron.

[Ahab]

26 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change" after the theory of global warming was well and truly debunked. Can't believe so many are blind to this.

'

Hell, 11% of the USA population think that Elvis is still alive and that the moon landings were staged and never occurred. Never underestimate the ability of people (in fairly large numbers) to be completely dumb. You do so at your own peril.

[Chomper Higgot]

Just now, Ahab said:

Hell, 11% of the USA population think that Elvis is still alive and that the moon landing were staged and never happen. Never underestimate the ability of people (in fairly large numbers) to be completely dumb. You do so at your own peril.

“Never underestimate the ability of people (in fairly large numbers) to be completely dumb”

 

While Trump didn’t actually win the popular vote, I do take your point.

[Tug]

Wow Donald has turned the USA from a beacon of hope and an example of a successful democracy to a pariah and a threat to the world what an epic dumpster fire of an administration 

[TopDeadSenter]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

 

 

Dilly, dilly.

Disgusting racist anti white propaganda. Hate speech at its finest. And I have no idea what this BS has to do with faux climate change being a worry for the intellectually challenged? Can you clarify matters?

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

Hell, 11% of the USA population think that Elvis is still alive and that the moon landings were staged and never occurred. Never underestimate the ability of people (in fairly large numbers) to be completely dumb. You do so at your own peril.

Agree, that's how Trump got elected.  And I'm pretty sure those Elvis and fake-moon-landing believers are Trump supporters. 

[beechguy]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

I find it quite worrying that nearly half of the people around the world view the US as a major threat, numbers which have skyrocketed in the last two years, from 8 to 50%. Since Mr. Trump has taken power, what was almost a non issue, is one of the greatest concerns. To my mind, it means that Mr. Trump is giving an exceptionally poor performance, not assisted by his deceitful and manipulative means, or his fundamental character which so, so many see as fatally flawed. We all make mistakes, but I pray America doesn't repeat its huge one, in the elections next year, and the world can start to move forward again.

As for the climate, it should be our top priority, denial of which is at least partially to blame for the concern so many have with administrations who choose to ignore it.

You would prefer an ass kisser like Obama? No thanks.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

“Never underestimate the ability of people (in fairly large numbers) to be completely dumb”

 

While Trump didn’t actually win the popular vote, I do take your point.

The fact that she did win the popular vote only proves him right, IMO.

Re climate change, tell people something often enough and they will start to believe it. Meanwhile the people telling us the sky is falling carry on as usual. Not much sacrificing being done by them.

[goferman]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change"

It's been properly named climate change for nearly 20 years.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

You'd do better to listen to others than Rush, Alex, Donald et al.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, goferman said:

It's been properly named climate change for nearly 20 years.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

You'd do better to listen to others than Rush, Alex, Donald et al.

Calling it Climate Change is actually a nonsense, as climate is ALWAYS changing. Global Warming was actually a better name as it indicated that something was actually happening that was different from before.

Everyone should remember that humans have only inhabited the planet for a blink of an eye in cosmic terms, and there is no guarantee that Gaia wants to keep us around, given our appalling record of abusing the planet, and destroying everything we touch.

IMO it should be renamed to "human created pollution causing our destruction if we don't stop it", so that people have an idea that it's OUR fault and WE have to do something about it.

[VincentRJ]

Climate Change should certainly be a major concern. Many civilizations in the past have been destroyed by climate change, although not always directly. Often, the civilization is weakened, due to a change in climate which it is unable to adapt to, and is then attacked by its traditional enemies.

 

A fairly recent example is the demise of the Khmer civilization during the 15th century. As the climate changed from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age, the snows in the Himalayas, which feed the Mekong during summer, did not melt as usual. For a number of years, the monsoons were very weak, or even non-existent, and the reservoirs around the Angkor Wat region became dry, resulting in a serious food shortage. The local people began to desert the area in search of greener pastures and the Thais took that opportunity to invade, which resulted in the remaining people also deserting the area. The many temples became a lost city in the jungle, discovered centuries later by the French.

 

For many years it was a puzzle why an entire population had deserted such a large area of solid structures, temples, reservoirs and canals. Usually after an invasion, the invaders take control, or the survivors of the original population return after the invaders depart. Why did this entire civilization become lost in the jungle?

 

The study of tree rings and sediments in the area provide a convincing explanation. As a result of a major disruption to the climate, resulting in several years of dryness, there followed a few years of heavy monsoons and massive flooding. There was little incentive for the surviving population to return, so the cities became overgrown and lost in the jungle.

 

The key to surviving climate change is adaption. In modern societies we have the energy resources and the technology to enable us to adapt, and we have the historical data which tell us which regions are most at risk of floods and droughts, but economic growth takes priority.

 

Building codes which require houses in flood plains to be built above the level of previous floods, and/or to withstand the force of previous hurricanes in the area, are too expensive. By ignoring the real risks of a repetition of previous, known, extreme weather events in the area, a thriving economic community can be developed, sometimes without any major catastrophe for 30 or 40 years, then one year, wham bam, 20 Billion dollars worth of damage results from a flood and hurricane, usually described in the media as unprecedented, or a once-in-a-hundred year event which is likely caused by rising CO2 levels, or certainly exacerbated by rising CO2 levels.

 

Placing the blame on rising CO2 levels, and the government investing in renewable energy sources to reduce CO2 emissions in order to create the impression they are at least doing something to reduce the risk of future extreme weather events, allows the destroyed dwellings to be rebuilt along the same lines, whilst creating the delusion that the next flood or hurricane will not be as extreme.
 

[DoctorG]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Run for your lives!

[Pedrogaz]

5 hours ago, Ahab said:

The USA did not start two massive world wars, but we did help clean them up. Maybe the rest of the world has little idea about what is important to "worry about".

But the US has been in almost perpetual war ever since the end of WW2....and all of these are wars of choice, thousands of miles from home in countries that represent no threat at all to the US. I am really concerned about the US starting illegal and unnecessary wars because war is the greatest evil.

[blazes]

5 hours ago, Ahab said:

Trump will be re-elected in a landslide. Global warming/climate change/whatever they call the next world ending crisis will be assigned to the dust bin of history along with all the other apocalyptic visions (both religious and other) that have ever been created. The earths climate has always been changing, heck 10,000 or so years ago much of north America and northern Europe was covered by hundreds of feet of ice. The cave men BBQ wooly mammoths over wood fires definitely did not cause that warming period and in all likelihood a great portion of the currently observed warming is natural as well. 

 

Before you start calling me a holocaust denier (I mean global warming/whatever we are calling this crap theory this week) please tell me how much of the current warming is anthropogenic and how much is just a natural cycle? If you say it is all manmade you are a moron.

 

The only thing I disagree with in this excellent contribution is the phrase "in all likelihood"....

[stevenl]

5 hours ago, Tug said:

Wow Donald has turned the USA from a beacon of hope and an example of a successful democracy to a pariah and a threat to the world what an epic dumpster fire of an administration 

And people on here manage to twist it and make it a positive.

 

Sad, confused, laughing, all at the same time.

[Cory1848]

5 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement.

 

I hate to state the obvious, but the word “threat” is not meant as a compliment, as a global acknowledgment of “greatness.” It is rather a reflection of the instability and recklessness of US foreign policy during the past two years. As an American, this is nothing to be proud of.

[farcanell]

6 hours ago, Ahab said:

The USA did not start two massive world wars, but we did help clean them up. Maybe the rest of the world has little idea about what is important to "worry about".

Correct... the USA did not start two massive world wars, but then, neither did almost every other country on the planet.

 

and correct, the US did help clean up, along with a large number of other countries.... they (USA) just turned up much much later than everyone else..... after being attacked.... so turning up to “clean up” was not from some place of good intent, but as a factor of self preservation.

[farcanell]

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The largest shift in sentiment centred on the United States, it said, with a median of 45 percent of people naming U.S. power and influence as a threat in 2018, up from 25 percent in 2013.

Mmm.... sounds like a new contender to join the axis of evil.

[Dumbastheycome]

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change" after the theory of global warming was well and truly debunked. Can't believe so many are blind to this.

'

Finally.The truth is laid bare. You are undoubtably a piss taker !

[kamahele]

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change" after the theory of global warming was well and truly debunked. Can't believe so many are blind to this.

'

Please tell me you are joking lol! You should be a comedian. 

[wombat]

[johnarth]

7 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Finally. The truth is laid bare. Irrefutable proof that the MAGA movement under the greatest US President ever Donald Trump has indeed made America more powerful. Just like it said on the box. How much more powerful? Almost double. What an amazing achievement. 

 And it is not lost on me, but what was once called "Global warming" is now called "climate change" after the theory of global warming was well and truly debunked. Can't believe so many are blind to this.

'

well written yes it is amazing just how many fell for it even the good General not game to use his 44 against it

[riclag]

1 hour ago, Cory1848 said:

I hate to state the obvious, but the word “threat” is not meant as a compliment, as a global acknowledgment of “greatness.” It is rather a reflection of the instability and recklessness of US foreign policy during the past two years. As an American, this is nothing to be proud of.

As a American I am proud to have a President that want's all countries,especially China,  to pay handsomely for a clean environment,protection and fair trade ! 

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, riclag said:

As a American I am proud to have a President that want's all countries to pay handsomely for a clean environment,protection and fair trade ! 

You want countries to pay for fair trade? Doesn't sound very fair to me, but I'm sure you can explain.

Clean environment, all this president has done is try to destroy as much of the environment as he can.

Protection, ok, we can have a difference of opinion on that.