Comparing Survey Results to Assess Climate Change/Global Warming
Awareness, Perceptions and Beliefs of College Students in the United States and China
Students: Chris Brown, Drew Christensen, Elora Leene, Dan Putman and Brittany Whited
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Jamelske
UW-Eau Claire Economics Department, Chippewa Valley Center for Economic Research & Development and Watershed Institute for Collaborative Environmental Studies
Introduction
Climate Change (CC), a phenomenon entailing warming average global temperatures (global warming,
GW) is an important and divisive national and international policy issue. Despite overwhelming scientific
consensus and corresponding warnings (1, 2, 3), many people including policy makers still disagree about
the reality of CC/GW and the degree to which human activities are responsible. Not surprisingly, there is
also significant public and political debate about what action, if any, should be taken to address CC/GW.
The debate is heightened by uncertainties regarding the relationship between human activities, CO2
emissions and CC/GW. In particular, it is difficult for the general public to accept that human actions are to
blame, in part because taking action would likely require significant lifestyle changes with costs that are
seen by many as prohibitive.
Overcoming these obstacles will require building a consensus among the general population. More
specifically, policy actions to address CC/GW will have to account for public perceptions and must be
understood and accepted in order to be politically feasible and successfully implemented (4).
Therefore, it is important to find out what people know, think, and believe across a spectrum of issues
related to CC/GW. As a means to this end, we surveyed U.S. and Chinese college students about this
important topic. The U.S. and China are of interest because they are disproportionately responsible for
world CO2 emissions and college students are of interest because they represent the next generation of
decision-makers. Similar surveys of this type have been conducted among a variety of populations, mostly
in the U.S. and Europe (5, 6, 7, 8). However, to our knowledge this is the first survey to elicit responses
from people in China regarding their views on CC/GW.
Figures 3 & 4
Figure 5
Figures 6 & 7
Background
China (21.9%) and the U.S. (17.7%) account for nearly 40% of world CO2 emissions. In fact, the next
three top emitting countries (India, Russia, Japan) combined are just over 80% of U.S. CO2 emissions
(Figure 1) (9).
China and the U.S. are also two of the world’s most populous countries,
however with over 1.3 billion people, China is more than four times as
large. This difference in population means that per capita emissions in
China are only a fraction (28%) of U.S. levels (Figure 2). Thus, on
average, U.S. lifestyles are significantly more dependent on fossil fuels
and CO2 emissions than China (9, 10).
Figure 8
The U.S. and China also represent the world’s two largest economies
with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately $14 trillion and
$10 trillion (2010, US$, PPP) respectively. However, in terms of energy
usage, Chinese emissions per dollar of GDP are 2.2 times greater than
the U.S. (Figure 2). Thus, production in the U.S. is significantly more
efficient than in China (9, 10).
Figures 1 & 2
The U.S. and China are also very different politically. First, the U.S. has a history of over 200 years of
economic and political freedom. In contrast, China has been a communist state with strong political and
social control for over 60 years. Although there have been significant reforms in China over the last 30
years, economic, political and social controls remain tight, especially compared to traditional Western
standards (10).
Sample
The U.S. sample of 826 students was obtained by conducting surveys at one university in each of four
states; Arkansas (n=185), California (n=216), New York (n=169) and Wisconsin (n=256). The Chinese
sample of 776 students was obtained by conducting surveys at one university in each of four
provinces; Guangdong (n=222), Jiangsu (n=138), Shanxi (n=225) and Sichuan (n=191). Both samples
are the result of convenient sampling relying on a group of professors at each institution arranging for
students in their classes to complete the survey. The actual number of observations for each question
analyzed varies slightly as some students did not respond to every question.
Just under 60% of respondents in both countries were female
and the average age in the U.S. was slightly higher (23) than in
China (20.1). In terms of race/ethnicity, 72% of U.S. respondents
identified as White, while the remaining sample was Hispanic
(8.9%), Asian (6.5%), Black (7.3%), American Indian (0.9%) and
other (4.4%). Among Chinese students, 79.3% identified as Han,
while 10.4% were non-Han and 10.3% responded other.
This sample is not a random sample and thus may not generalize
to all college populations in both countries. However, efforts were
made to ensure that respondents were reasonably representative
of the overall U.S. and Chinese college student populations,
particularly in these states and provinces. Students at all eight
institutions were sampled from large general education classes
with mostly first and second year students from a variety of
majors. The higher average age in the U.S. reflects some nontraditional students, however the vast majority of respondents in
both countries were traditional college-age students.
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 9
Results & Discussion
Over 85% of Chinese students believe that CC/GW is happening compared to just over 75% of U.S. Students. This difference emerges because of a higher
degree of uncertainty among U.S. students (Figure 3). Nearly all Chinese students that reported CC/GW was happening believed the causes were primarily due to
human activities, while there was a significant drop off among U.S. students (Figure 4).
Chinese students also report that CC/GW will negatively impact people in their country sooner with 55% saying right now or in five years compared to only 38.1% of
U.S. students. Once again, more U.S. students report that they are not sure (Figure 5).
The differences were even larger when students were asked about their understanding of CC/GW science. Just over half of U.S. students believe there is a
consensus among scientists that CC/GW is happening compared to nearly three-quarters of Chinese students (Figure 6). There is almost no drop-off in the number
of Chinese students that believe there is scientific consensus that CC/GW is primarily caused by human activities, while only 40% of U.S. students believe there is
such a consensus among scientists (Figure 7).
A slight majority of students in both countries feel that successful action to address CC/GW should be driven by government legislation/regulation, while more
Chinese students say action should be voluntary and more U.S. students report being unsure (Figure 8).
Students in both countries show strong support for joining an international agreement to reduce CC/GW, however support is higher in China (88.5% > 79.8%).
Support for joining an international CC/GW agreement remains strong in both countries even if the other country does not join (Figure 9).
Differences emerge again in terms of what issues students see as the most important for government to focus on. The economy is most important to U.S. students
with the environment a distant second (35.3% > 14.7%), whereas in China, the economy (22.5%) barely edges out the environment (22%) (Figure 10).
Finally, Chinese students report a significantly greater level of familiarity with both national and international polices to address CC/GW. It is particularly troubling
that 70.3% of U.S. students report being not at all or not very familiar with international policies (Figure 11).
This project provides insight into the awareness, perceptions and beliefs of young adults in the U.S. and China regarding CC/GW. Overall, Chinese students report
a significantly greater awareness and understanding of issues pertaining to CC/GW. These results have meaningful implications for future national and
international CC/GW policies. However, additional research is needed to fully understand the factors leading to the different responses from the next generation of
decision-makers in these two important countries. In particular, future research with this data could examine differences in responses based on age, gender,
college major and region of residence in both the U.S. and China. It would also be interesting to explore differences in U.S. attitudes and beliefs regarding CC/GW
issues based on the political ideology of college-age respondents.
We gratefully acknowledge generous funding support from the UWEC Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and Blugold Commitment, Xcel Energy-Eau Claire, and Northwestern Bank-Chippewa Falls