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  • Sep '24
    Almost half of Britons have personally experienced heat waves
  • Apr '24
    Tracker data: What climate impacts are the public concerned about?
  • Feb '24
    Survey: Three quarters of the public are worried about the impact of climate change on their bills
  • Nov '23
    Making sense of public opinion on climate impacts
  • Aug '22
    ACT Climate Labs: How to combat misinformation around extreme weather
  • Mar '20
    Guide: Engaging the public on climate impacts and adaptation
  • Nov '19
    Report: Vulnerable people don’t feel they are at risk from heat
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    Climate Barometer Tracker 18th September 2024

    Almost half of Britons have personally experienced heat waves

    When asked about their personal experiences of climate impacts, large proportions of the public have experienced heat waves, extreme heat, storms, and flooding. Of these, heat is the most commonly experienced climate impact, with almost half of Britons surveyed saying they had personally experienced it.

    Only 28% of people surveyed in the Climate Barometer Tracker in April 2024 said that they ‘have never experienced any of these climate events’.

    Climate Barometer Tracker 19th April 2024

    Tracker data: What climate impacts are the public concerned about?

    In terms of the impacts of extreme weather and climate change-related effects, the public is primarily concerned about: harm towards nature and wildlife, suffering and hardship for the world’s poorest, that their bills and costs may rise, and that some food will become unavailable.

    The public tend to see less connection between extreme weather and climate change and the effect on their physical and mental health, or ability to spend time outdoors or travel. Only 12% said they were worried climate change and extreme weather would lead to damage to their home.

    Opinion Insight 21st February 2024

    Survey: Three quarters of the public are worried about the impact of climate change on their bills

    In a survey of 2000 people carried out by Opinium, on behalf of Positive Money, 75% of UK adults were concerned about the impact of climate change on the cost of heating or cooling their home, while 69% were worried about the impact of grocery prices, 54% on the price of housing or rent, 74% on electricity costs, 68% on the cost of water and 59% on transport costs.

    These concerns about ‘climateflation’ show that the perceived impacts of climate change are not confined to changes in the weather (although these are becoming more noticeable to people too).

    Climate Barometer data backs this up – concern about the impact of climate change on household bills was the third most common choice behind ‘harm to nature and wildlife’ and ‘suffering and hardship for the world’s poorest’.

    Separate analysis investigating the cost of ‘not zero‘ (i.e. not pursuing net zero goals fast enough) by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) supports people’s concerns: households really are facing higher bills because of a lack of action on climate change. Their calculations reveal that cumulative savings of £70bn on the UK’s energy bill could have been made had investments happened over past decade.

    The Positive Money report emphasises that these climate-linked costs are disproportionately felt by lower income households.

    Opinion Insight 1st November 2019

    Report: Vulnerable people don’t feel they are at risk from heat

    In a report that offers a critical evaluation of the Heatwave Plan for England, survey data shows that most people – including those who are most vulnerable – don’t tend to see themselves as being at risk from heat. The authors write:

    Most people had positive views of hot weather, and for many it was something they looked forward to as it invoked feelings of good health and well-being. In addition, most adults did not feel that hot weather posed a risk to themselves. As a result, protective measures were often not taken, even those that people felt were effective, such as staying out of the heat and in the shade.

    Only 40% of participants aged 75 or older saw themselves personally at risk of hot weather. According to many of those interviewed, risk was associated with physical and mental frailty, not age itself, and there was some resistance, even resentment, to any ‘vulnerable’ label that may be applied to them in this context, as they did not consider themselves ‘frail’.

    • Authors: Lorraine Williams, Bob Erens, Stefanie Ettelt, Shakoor Hajat, Tommaso Manacorda and Nicholas Mays
    • Date: 1st November 2019

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