America, Britain and Japan are the countries most sceptical that man is to blame for global warming
- 13,500 people surveyed from 13 countries in an online poll - the majority agreed global warming is happening
- 98 per cent of those surveyed in Hong Kong and Mexico believe in climate change, compared to 72 per cent in the United States
It appears that the existence of global warming, once such a hotly contested issue is now widely accepted, but the extent to which mankind is behind the changes still divides opinion.
A recent online poll found the percentage of people who believe global warming is happening is consistently high across the world, but belief that man is to blame is much lower, with the US, Britain and Japan being the most sceptical.
Of the 13,500 people surveyed from 13 countries the majority agree global warming is happening, basing this opinion on increased or excessive rainfall, rising average temperatures and droughts.
Dire consequences: Scientists have warned that the loss of glaciers in South America, which are now in terminal decline because of global warming, will threaten the water supplies of millions of people
Flash floods in Wollongong Australia: The majority of people now agree in the existence of global warming, often based on climate changes they see around them such as increased rainfall
There was still some discrepancy across countries, with 98 per cent of those surveyed in Hong Kong and Mexico believing in climate change, compared to 72 per cent in the United States.
However there was far more of a divide between nations when it came to belief in the reason behind global warming.
Global warming, or the rise of the earth's atmosphere is believed in large part to be due to an increase of greenhouse gases, produced by industry emissions, the burning of fossil fuels and large scale farming, becoming trapped in the atmosphere.
The rate of increase is rising, with two thirds of the recorded 0.8°C rise early 20th century having occurred since 1980.
Devastation: Nearly 30,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka when a tsunami hit in 2005. Developing nations are more likely to agree human behaviour is a cause of global warming
In response to the question of whether human activity was mainly responsible for climate change the U.S. Britain and Japan all revealed a fairly high level of skepticism.
In the United States 58 per cent agreed human activity was a contributing factor while in Britain it was 65 per cent and 78 per cent in Japan.
These scores were markedly lower than other nations. In Hong Kong 94 percent of citizens agreed, followed by 93 percent in Indonesia, 92 percent in Mexico and 87 percent in Germany.
The poll was conducted for the insurance firm Axa by opinion poll group Ipsos and questioned people in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States.
Debate: The causes of global warming will continue to be a hotly disputed issue, while the real time consequences can increasingly be seen across the globe such as the floods in Pakistan
Though no explanation was offered for the differing levels of acceptance of mankind’s role in global warming there seems to be a divide between those countries that are developing and those that are highly industrialized.
Developing countries are more likely to suffer the consequences of global warming such as increased occurrence of natural disasters, and have less to lose economically in admitting that human behavior, such as heavy industries, is a contributing factor.
This may explain why populations in less industrialised countries are more willing to believe mankind needs to change it’s behaviour to combat global warming.