Popular Opinion on Global Warming

As a new survey reports, more people are less likely to believe in global warming than ever before. There was a steady drop over the past year in people who say they believe in the issue of climate change, 35% believe in it today which is down from 44% in April 2008. So, with increasing reports of it being a real global issue, are less people likely to believe in it? The first question is whether the lack of media attention in recent months has caused people to believe that it's no longer an issue. In a survey of 1,5000 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, 57% of them believe that there is solid evidence that the climate is warming but in April 2008, 70%+ people believed that there was evidence that global temperatures were rising. The second predicament that many may be taking into account is whether people have simply changed their mind about global warming from it being a man-made problem to a natural occurrence in the world. Personally, I think that while man-made problems may be influencing global climates that the issue of global warming isn't as immediate as people first were led to believe. I think that may be an opinion of many people that while the earth is warming and gradually the climates are changing that it's not a completely man-made error against nature nor is it happening as fast as people were once led to believe. There was once a sense of fear that was instilled in people that if global warming wasn't addressed that within a decade the world would be in complete turmoil. I discredit this theory and perhaps many other people do as well. As the reports show, clearly people still believe that global warming is a possibility but the hysteria has died down and perhaps that's why more people have changed their views about it.

Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming: Overview - Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

PEW Research on Civic Engagement

1. It does not surprise me that political involvement, even online, is something the wealthy participate in at much higher rates than people with lower incomes. Out of the population of people who make $100,000+ 45% of them donate offline and only 35% would donate online.

2. Out of the entire population of people who donate to political causes, 30% of those people feel comfortable giving money online. I can understand the reason for online donating, it's fast and easy, but it's much more secure (most of the time!) to donate money in person.

3. 37% of internet users, ages 18-29, use blogs or social networking as a venue for political involvement. 17% of 30 to 49 year olds, 12% of 50 to 64, and only 10% of the senior citizen (64+) community use social networking and blogging as a venue for political involvement.

4. Offline donors were three times as likely to give over $500 than internet donors. I'm assuming this is because it's more comforting and secure to hand an official a check for a high amount of money than it is to send it electronically.

5. One in every five Americans post something on the internet relating to civic and political involvement. This is surprising to me because I wouldn't assume so many people would voice their opinions on politics over the internet. I always thought there was a higher amount of people who would research without posting.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama has become the newest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, a distinguished honor that has been bestowed on just three other presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter). This is not the most surprising part of it, though. The deadline for the Peace Prize nominations was just over two weeks after Obama first took office. Now the debate, primarily between conservatives and liberals, is whether Obama deserves this honor. He's been in office just over nine months and it surely comes as a slap in the face to our former president, George W. Bush Jr, who didn't receive anything like this during his two terms.

Personally, I think Obama has promise to be a great president but I don't know if it's the right time to be giving him such an award. He's in the process of fixing the numerous problems left behind by the previous administration while his own legislation is slowly edging into the Congress. As demonstrated in a recent SNL spoof, Obama hasn't finished anything he has started though he is, with his unwavering optimism and nationalistic pride, doing his very hardest.

Another question that I can't help but consider is whether this is also an issue of race. An african-american president is a tremendous accomplishment on its own. It's a huge step in the way of the Civil Rights and was highlighted during his campaign by both Democrats and Republicans. However, something that seems to be unique to Obama is his charisma that inspires all demographics to go out and vote. Young people, impoverished people, and minorities who tend to vote in very low numbers all went out and rallied support for our President during his run for the office.

To summarize, I think it's a great thing that Obama won the Prize but I'm not sure if it was the right time for something like this.

Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is 'call to action' - CNN.com

PEW Research on Internet Access

1. 73% of the American population uses e-mail or internet communication. This leaves approximately 27% of the US population out of the research and, more importantly, it means there's still a number of Americans who haven't taken advantage of the new technologies and services the internet provides for business and for communication.

2. Spanish-dominant hispanics (assuming this refers to the language barrier?) have the lowest rate of internet users at 32%. However, English-speaking hispanics have the highest percentage of internet users in terms of an ethnic group.

3. Rich people, as most may assume, have the highest percentage of internet users at 95%. This is surprising because it means 5% of those people still don't use the internet which causes me to wonder how they keep their net worth so high.

4. Suburban areas (77%) have more internet users than urban areas (74%) which was surprising because I assumed with more condensed cities and higher populations that cities would have more internet users than suburbs.

5. College graduates are the second group with the highest percentage of internet users. 91% of college graduates use the internet.

6. 18-29 year olds have the highest percentage of internet users by age with 90%. 30-49 year olds have the second highest rate at 85% but senior citizens (65+) have the lowest percent with 35%. This proves that the internet is powered by the younger generations and the business class.

Degrees of Access (May 2008 data)

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Degrees of Access (May 2008 data)

View more presentations from Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center.