Leading from behind

New results from a long-running public opinion survey show that about 1 in 3 Americans is now “alarmed” by global warming. Is it any wonder, given the horrific onslaught of fires, floods, heat waves and other climate disasters we’ve experienced in the last year alone? The share of the U.S. adult population alarmed by global warming nearly doubled over the last five years from 18 percent to an all-time high of 33 percent, with about half of that increase occurring between December 2020 and September 2021, researchers with Yale University and George Mason University reported last week as part of a twice-a-year nationwide survey. About 59 percent of Americans are either “alarmed” or “concerned” about climate change and overall are becoming more engaged and supportive of policies to reduce planet-warming pollution.