Better explicating the strengths and shortcomings of these models will help refine projections and improve transparency in the years ahead.
Image credit: Witsawat.S.
Edited by Elke U. Weber, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved November 19, 2020 (received for review September 10, 2020)
Abstract
Research reveals that a “finite pool of worry” constrains concern about and action on climate change. Nevertheless, a longitudinal panel survey of 1,858 UK residents, surveyed in April 2019 and June 2020, reveals little evidence for diminishing climate change concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the sample identifies climate change as a bigger threat than COVID-19. The findings suggest climate change has become an intransigent concern within UK public consciousness.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: darrick.evensen{at}ed.ac.uk.
Author contributions: D.E., L.W., P.B., P.D.-W., J.D., and A.V. designed research; D.E., L.W., and P.B. performed research; D.E., L.W., P.B., and A.M. analyzed data; and D.E., L.W., P.B., S.R., and A.M. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no competing interest.
This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2018936118/-/DCSupplemental.
Data Availability.
Some study data are available.
- Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.
This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).
Effect of “finite pool of worry” and COVID-19 on UK climate change perceptions
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- Social Sciences
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
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