Pope Francis’ recent visit to the United States and his document on climate change have had a noticeable effect on U.S. public opinion, according to a University of Michigan survey.
Fifteen percent of those polled say they are now more convinced that the world is warming through climate change because of the pope’s climate change encyclical released earlier this year, according to a survey by the University of Michigan’s National Surveys on Energy and Environment.
About half of those polled don’t think religious leaders should be speaking about climate change, but 60 percent said they support Pope Francis’ message.
Francis released “Laudato Si” in May and has sought to make climate change prevention one of his signature issues. Many scientists believe the release of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels is driving man-made climate change.
Seventy percent of those surveyed said they believe climate change is real and taking place. Of those 70 percent, 32 percent cited personal observation as the reason for their belief and 26 percent cited natural patterns.
The group changing their views the fastest to believing in climate change is evangelical Christians, according to the survey. In the spring, 49 percent of evangelical Christians said they believed in climate change, while in September that percentage had increased to 65 percent.
The vast majority of those polled said their religious beliefs did not play a role in how they think the government should deal with climate change. Just 23 percent said their religious views dictate their feelings about climate change policy.
Three-quarters of those polled believe the United States has a moral obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The survey of 911 people, on a mix of landlines and cellphones, was done between Sept. 2 and Sept. 24. The margin of error on the survey is 3.5 percent. The survey sought to measure the relationship between religious affiliation and belief in climate change.
