Support for global warming appears to be declining, says a recent study. The Pew Research Center has discovered that more Americans are now skeptical of climate change.

In October of this year, the Pew Research Center released a comprehensive study of the nation’s opinions regarding climate change and global warming. Overall, the survey found that support for the theory has significantly decreased.

According to the survey, in April of 2008, 44% of Americans viewed global warming as a “serious problem.” Today, this number stands at 35%.

More Americans now believe that there is insufficient support for global warming, or rising global temperatures. In April of 2008, 71% of Americans said that there was solid evidence of the theory, in October of 2009 the statistic stood at 57%.

Americans now believe that humans, or human carbon output, are less at fault for global warming than previously thought. In April of 2008, 47% of respondents viewed carbon emissions as a cause of global warming. This viewpoint has now decreased to 36%.

Both Democrats and Republicans have decreased their support in the poll, seeming to suggest that this has become a rare movement that has transcended party lines.

While only 14% of Americans, under this study, say that they have heard of the proposed “Cap and Trade” policy, over half said they would support setting limits on carbon emissions, even if it meant higher energy and commodity prices.

This low ratio of those knowledgeable with “Cap and Trade” seems to be consistent with those currently attending the California Virtual Academy.

In a recent interview, J C, a CAVA high school junior, was unaware of these “Cap and Trade” changes, as is the case with many other CAVA students. “You know, I haven't actually learned much about that," she said, "I hear little bits here and there, but I really couldn't answer that and know what I'm talking about.”

Indeed, the “Cap and Trade” system seems to be so complex that it has even sparked much debate in Congress over global warming legislation. As recently as in 2009, Congressmen and women battled fiercely over H.R. 2454, which would instigate a type of carbon “monitoring” over the nation.

Many Republican and Democrat congressmen alike complained of insufficient time to fully read and analyze the bill in order to be able to understand the implications for US citizens. With a rapid vote in the 11^th hour, many were still left with important questions unanswered regarding the long-term costs of the initiative, who would profit from the “green” jobs and regulations presented, and if the government’s investment would truly pay off.

The confusion regarding “Cap and Trade” and other policies, which are intended to help the environment, doesn’t stop in the Senate, however. In a recent poll of CAVA high school students, 22% said they would support a carbon tax. However, in follow-up polls many less students noted that they truly understood several key parts of the legislation in detail.

Other pro-climate policies that were supported by CAVA students were world population reduction by 90% (11% supported) and FEMA camps for “environmental terrorists” (11% supported). In follow-up polls, almost none mentioned knowing of these policies and/or understanding their implications. (As a contrast, 66.7% of CAVA high school students noted themselves as not advocating for any of the pro-climate policies afore mentioned.)

Many enthusiastic global warming skeptics note that there is such immense confusion over the pro-climate policies because they are engineered as if to force them through without much discussion or debate.

Alex Jones, a global warming skeptic and editor of www.infowars.com, takes this even further in his recent documentary titled The Fall of the Republic. Jones argues that the entire global warming theory was fabricated as a massive scam by the rich corporate elite and against the people of the US in order to establish a type of world governance.

Jones calls the global warming theory a conspiracy and its pro-climate policies a method by which the elite would reach their goals. He also notes that most of the policies are focused at consolidating control and power over both energy and money, two key factors that drive today’s world economy and society.

In a recent poll of CAVA high school students, though 27% of respondents noted that global warming might be tied to a larger conspiracy. 54.5% disregarded this thesis, and 9.1% mentioned that this could be true to some degree.

Such sentiments regarding the pro-climate efforts could have also originated in a non-comprehensive study of the climate itself. Many global warming skeptics mention that the science regarding climate change is far from settled.

CAVA students seem to agree. In a recent poll, only 36% of students said they agree with the global warming theory. In contrast, 45.5% said they only agree to some extent and 18% said they completely do not agree.

While only 30% of CAVA high school students mentioned that they believe humans are the complete and total cause of climate change, 50% mentioned that humans are only partially responsible, and 20% said humans have nothing to do with the occurrence. Furthermore, over 64% of students attributed climate change as a natural cycle.

In follow-up surveys and interviews, students cited the sun as the primary driving factor of global climate, with water vapor and clouds coming in second and carbon dioxide coming in a distant fourth. (Nitric and sulfuric based acids/gases resulting from both natural and man-made reasons came in third.)

Such varied responses and opinions seem to reflect the results presented by the Pew study, in which the overall trend is far from “scientifically settled.”

With these many setbacks against the pro-climate movement, climate change supporters still maintain that climate change is the most supported climate theory. While this is statistically true at the moment, survey after survey seems to predict a future trend in the opposite direction.

On the popular site stopglobalwarming.org, an article published on October 21, 2009 mentions that supporters believe that the pro-climate change movement is intensifying (a premise now contradicted by the Pew research).

“…analysts and activists detect a groundswell of anger, channeled through the Internet and voiced especially by the young, demanding action on global warming…, leaders may find themselves facing a coordinated movement cutting across continents, creeds and class…

‘As evidence mounts of the severity of the threat, civil society groups will be fuelled by the urgency of acting now to avoid the worse consequences of a problem for which future generations will surely hold us accountable…’”

According to Alex Jones, it is these very “young” people and “leaders” that are leading the trend described in the Pew research. It seems, rather, as if this new generation is more split over the issue of global warming than either totally for or against it. The climate debate of the future is still unwritten.