A quarter of Americans are delaying long-term plans like starting a family, fearing that climate change will drive ever more weather calamities, a survey reveals.
Research by Veolia, an environmental utility firm, shows a growing number of people are alarmed by global warming — four fifths call it a ‘real’ phenomenon and nearly two thirds put the blame on mankind.
It comes as storms and floods have claimed at least 17 lives in California in recent days, and as rescuers searched for five-year-old Kyle Doan, who was swept away by raging waters on the central coast near San Miguel on Monday.
The study indicates shifting attitudes in a nation that has up until now been skeptical of climate science, which was manifest in former president Donald Trump’s decision to exit a global climate deal — a move reversed by his successor Joe Biden.