Climate Change: NI People Less Worried About Effects

Northern Irish people are less likely than those in the UK to be worried about the effects of climate change, a new Department of the Environment survey has found.

Just half of those who said they believed in climate change agreed that they were concerned about its effects - that is a 7% fall since the last survey, carried out in 2009, and well below the 65% across the whole of the UK who said they were concerned.

More than a third of respondents (36%) said changes to the climate had a direct impact on them, worrying about increased energy costs, an increase in severe weather events, increased flooding, damage o natural environment and wildlife and increased food costs.

Only 3% of people here said climate change did not exist, and 61% of respondents believed a combination of human activity and natural processes is to blame for the phenomenon.

Fewer people now think that human activity on its own is the main cause of climate change, falling from 22% in 2009 to 17%.

In this year's survey, more than half of the respondents (57%) believed that making changes to their lifestyle will help to reduce climate change, and three-quarters of respondents said they were prepared to make changes to their lifestyle.

Since 2009, there have been notable improvements in the number of respondents installing loft insulation, turning down their heating, growing some of their own food and making fewer car journeys to help combat climate change.

(NE/GK)