US Catholics split on climate change ahead of pope’s encyclical

American Catholics are about as divided on the matter of climate change as the rest of the general public, the Pew Research Center found in a survey ahead a major statement on the environment by Pope Francis.

Seventy-one percent of U.S. Catholics believe the Earth is warming, Pew found in a survey released on Tuesday, but fewer than half think it’s caused by human activity or think it’s a very serious problem. All three figures are similar to the general public’s views on the issue. 

{mosads}Catholics’ opinions on global warming break down along party lines. Eighty-five percent of Catholic Democrats believe in global warming and 64 percent call it a “very serious problem,” according to Pew. Only 51 percent of Catholic Republicans believe the Earth is getting warmer, and it’s viewed as a serious problem by 24 percent of them.  

The general public’s concern over climate change has increased since 2013, the last time Pew asked about it in a national survey. Today, about 46 percent of Americans call it a serious problem — on par with 2007 and 2008 levels — compared to less than a third who said so in 2013.

The survey comes before Pope Francis releases an encyclical on climate change and environmental issues on Thursday. 

The hotly anticipated document will blame human activity for climate change, according to a draft of the encyclical leaked earlier this week. It will call for “changes in styles of life, of production and consumption, to combat this warming, or, at least, the human causes that produce and exacerbate it.” 

Pope Francis is a popular figure among U.S. Catholics, with 86 percent saying they view him favorably. They are split on his work on the climate, however: just 53 percent say he has done a good job addressing environmental issues so far.