Environmentalists, scientists and lawmakers concerned about global warming are going back to basics: persuading the public that the problem is real, Darren Samuelsohn reports at Politico.

Thanks to factors such as the “Climategate” imbroglio and the political ascension of climate change skeptics, the issue has dropped off the radar for many Americans. In a recent survey, the Yale Project on Climate Change found that the number of people in the United States who believe in global warming fell from 71 percent to 56 percent between 2008 and 2010.

As part of the effort to build support for climate change action, advocates are trying to drive home locally relevant lessons, Samuelsohn says. Sen. Joe Lieberman, co-author of several unsuccessful climate bills over the last decade, cites studies showing lobster and winter flounder moving north out of Long Island Sound.

“It’s not the end of the world, and yet it suggests the world is changing,” Lieberman said. “It’s one small example. The world is full of them.”

Leave a comment