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. 2018 Jun 18;13(6):e0197988. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197988

Table 2. Climate change beliefs by segment and overall: 2011 and 2016.

Year Alarmed Concerned Cautious Disengaged Doubtful Dismissive Overall Scale Range
Think climate change is happeninga 2011
2016
% Change 		8.67
8.75
0.8% 		7.68
7.88
2.7% 		6.51
6.69
2.8% 		6.25
6.19
-0.9% 		5.14
4.88
-5.1% 		2.77
3.16
13.8% 		6.54
6.89
5.4% 		9
Whether climate change is caused mostly by human activitiesb 2011
2016
% Change 		88%
98%
11.4% 		69%
88%
27.5% 		45%
67%
48.9% 		18%
41%
127.8% 		5%
18%
260.0% 		2%
2%
0% 		57%
65%
13.3% 		—
Agreement between scientistsc 2011
2016
% Change 		81%
86%
6.2% 		54%
67%
24.1% 		29%
41%
41.4% 		28%
37%
32.1%* 		13%
19%
46.2% 		7%
8%
14.3%# 		39%
51%
30.8% 		—
How much will harm you personallyd 2011
2016
% Change 		3.26
3.29
0.9% 		2.76
2.77
0.4% 		2.18
2.22
1.7% 		2.15
2.21
2.8% 		1.71
1.57
-8.1% 		1.06
1.07
1.0% 		2.34
2.44
4.3% 		4
How much will harm future generationsd 2011
2016
% Change 		3.96
3.97
0.3% 		3.71
3.72
0.1% 		3.23
3.23
0.1% 		2.61
2.47
-5.4% 		2.27
2.21
-2.8% 		1.28
1.21
-5.9% 		3.12
3.22
3.1% 		4
How much will harm plant and animal speciesd 2011
2016
% Change 		3.91
3.97
1.4% 		3.62
3.70
2.1% 		3.16
3.25
2.9% 		2.63
2.48
-5.5% 		2.35
2.23
-4.8% 		1.27
1.24
-2.3% 		3.07
3.21
4.8% 		4
When climate change will harm people in Australiae 2011
2016
% Change 		5.55
5.71
2.8% 		4.87
5.08
4.4% 		3.90
4.31
10.5% 		3.68
3.89
5.5% 		2.65
2.74
3.5% 		1.21
1.17
-3.7% 		3.93
4.33
10.3% 		6
Humans capacity to reduce climate changef 2011
2016
% Change 		3.87
3.71
-4.0% 		3.79
3.66
-3.5% 		3.59
3.45
-3.7% 		3.16
2.93
-7.3% 		2.54
2.52
-0.7% 		1.63
1.55
-5.1% 		3.27
3.26
-0.3% 		5
Actions of single individuals wont make a differenceg 2011
2016
% Change 		3.36
3.31
-1.4% 		2.96
2.93
-1.1% 		2.57
2.59
0.6% 		2.41
2.26
-6.0% 		2.09
2.14
2.6% 		1.57
1.77
12.6%# 		2.61
2.67
2.5% 		4
New technologies will solve climate change without individuals having to make big changes in their livesg 2011
2016
% Change 		1.84
1.87
2.0% 		2.13
2.27
6.2% 		2.33
2.43
4.4% 		2.57
2.79
8.4% 		2.49
2.52
1.1% 		2.47
2.46
-0.5% 		2.26
2.34
3.4% 		4
Own actions will reduce personal contribution to climate changeh 2011
2016
% Change 		2.93
2.88
-1.5% 		2.56
2.45
-4.3% 		2.14
1.99
-7.0% 		2.29
2.42
5.9% 		1.59
1.61
1.2% 		1.03
1.16
12.7% 		2.19
2.23
1.9% 		4
If most people in Australia did these actions how much it would reduce climate changeh 2011
2016
% Change 		3.47
3.43
-1.3% 		3.08
3.03
-1.7% 		2.53
2.45
-3.4% 		2.45
2.62
7.1% 		1.70
1.76
3.5% 		1.03
1.11
7.8% 		2.53
2.64
4.1% 		4
If most people in industrialised countries did these how much it would reduce climate changeh 2011
2016
% Change 		3.72
3.66
-1.6% 		3.50
3.43
-2.1% 		2.94
2.84
-3.5% 		2.69
2.65
-1.3% 		2.06
1.98
-3.5% 		1.12
1.25
11.4% 		2.86
2.92
2.1% 		4

Notes

a 1 –extremely sure global warming is not happening, …, 9 –extremely sure global warming is happening

b 1– caused mostly by human activities, 0 –caused mostly by natural changes in the environment, 0 –none of the above because climate change isn’t happening

c 1 –most scientists think climate change is happening, 0 –most scientists think climate change is not happening, 0 –there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not climate change is happening

d 1 –not at all, 4 –a great deal

e 1—never, 2–100 years, 3–50 years, 4–25 years, 5–10 years, 6 –they are being harmed now

f 1 –global warming isn’t happening, 2 –humans can’t reduce global warming, even it if is happening, 3- humans could reduce global warming, but people aren’t willing to change behaviour, 4—humans could reduce global warming, but it is unclear at this point whether we will do what’s needed, 5 –humans can reduce global warming, and we are going to do so successfully

g 1 –strongly agree, …, 4 –strongly disagree

h 1 –not at all, 2 –a little, 3—some, 4 –a lot

* significant difference at p<0.10

# nonsignificant difference, all other shaded cells have significant differences at p<0.05 or higher