One-third blame climate change for colder winter temperatures: Gallup

One-third of Americans attributed “unusual” winter weather this season to climate change, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday.

The survey found that 19 percent of respondents said the 2018-2019 season was colder than usual due to climate change, while 14 percent said climate change made the season warmer than usual.

Twenty-three percent said they thought the season was colder than usual due to normal variations in the weather, while 5 percent said it was warmer than usual for the same reason.{mosads}

Gallup conducted the survey from March 1-10, before the “bomb cyclone” that struck the central U.S. last week, causing blizzard conditions in Colorado and major flooding in Nebraska and other parts of the Midwest.

Overall, 34 percent of respondents in the eastern United States said this year’s winter season was colder than usual, compared to 62 percent of respondents in the Midwest, 23 percent in the South and 64 percent in the West.

Forty-two percent of respondents in the East said temperatures were “about the same,” compared to 29 percent of respondents in the Midwest, 43 percent in the South and 26 percent in the West.

Gallup has surveyed reactions to unusual weather since 2012. Since then, the percentage blaming warmer weather overall on human activity has risen from 38 percent in 2012 to the 50s between 2013 and 2017. That figure reached 70 percent this year, Gallup noted.

Gallup surveyed 1,039 adults, ages 18 and older across the U.S. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.