A new poll just released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that Americans are less and less inclined to place global warming and environmental issues at the top of the priority list.

Just over 1,500 people were asked what the country’s priorities should be for 2010. The economy and jobs topped the list, which is no surprise. And since the survey was conducted in early January (shortly after the failed Christmas day airline bombing), terrorism rounded out the top three priorities.

What surprised us, is that global warming was dead last and losing ground against results from previous years. In fact, only 28 percent of the respondents to the Pew survey said global warming was a top priority.  In 2007, while only 38 percent said global warming was a priority. That’s 10 points higher than this year’s sentiment.

With the Pew survey, they also break down results by political party. The vast majority of Republicans do not consider this to be an issue, with only 11 percent of them making it a top concern. On the other hand, 43 percent of Democrats want action this year. Independent voters, who are now a third of the electorate, came in at only 25 percent believing global warming should be addressed by the President and Congress.

Pew wasn’t the only ones asking American’s about global warming last month. Last week  Yale and George Mason universities released a report Climate Change in the American Mind. In that survey, 57 percent of the people said, “Yes, I think global warming is happening.” That’s down from 71 percent when the same question was asked in 2008.

Of course, just because people think that climate change is happening, doesn’t mean they think we have anything to do with it. Thirty-six percent of the people said that it’s mostly caused by natural changes. Interesting, because 47 percent said that humans were the cause, but scan back up and you’ll see that only a total of 57 percent would even agree that the planet is experiencing climate change.

Clearly, people are confused, as responses to this question demonstrates:

Which comes closer to your own view?

1. Most scientists think global warming is happening
2. Most scientists think global warming is not happening
3. There is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening
4. Don’t know enough to say

The choice that received the most responses was number three! Forty percent of the people said they believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientist over global warming. The fact is that the vast majority of reputable scientists DO agree that global warming is occurring.

Where do you fall in the spectrum? Is climate change happening? If so, should the government make addressing climate change a top priority? How high on the list would you put it? Above creating jobs? Health care? Let us know.

Winter rains may have started in the U.S. but many areas on the planet are still suffering from severe drought.

no rain in the americas

Here at home, California, southern Texas, and the Southwest continue to suffer from severe to extreme drought. Fortunately, we haven’t had to endure the hardships imposed on the citizens of other countries. Just this week residents of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, are having to do without water service for up to 48 hours. The dry weather started back in 2007 and the water rationing is expected to be in effect until 2010 when the rainy season begins again.

africa’s suffering worsens

Over in Africa, more severe and frequent droughts are drastically changing the way of life for millions of nomads in Kenya. While drought is no stranger to Africa, a Christian Aid study released in 2006 shows that periods of drought have quadrupled in the last 25 years. Compounding the problem is a growth in population. What does this mean for the nomads? Many of them have lost their herds and are no longer  to continue with their nomadic traditions. Worse still, others have lost family members to malnutrition.

the chinese take control of the weather

And perhaps you heard about China’s efforts to wring some water from the skies by seeding the clouds over Beijing last week. According to the Xinhua news agency, the head of the Beijing Weather Modification Office (who even knew they had one), said, “We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought.”

Where does all this leave us? The message seems pretty clear, climate change is effecting more and more people every day around the world. We’re trying to do our part in reducing the demand for water for textiles. Let’s hope the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference yields real results.

photo credits- caracas: LAHT.com / goats: Siena Anstis / snow: LikeYesterday

Water covers more than 70 percent of the earth, unfortunately 97 percent of it is salt water. Of the remaining three percent, most of that is frozen and inaccessible, leaving a mere .5 percent available for human use.

more water facts

• Fewer than 10 countries control more than 60 percent of the planet’s fresh water.
• Every year, more than 1.5 million children die from water-related disease.
• Water.org says that one in eight people do not have access to clean water.
• An American uses more water in a single five-minute shower than most poor people in the third world use in a day.
• Water shortages have been reported near water bottling plants, including those in Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and New Hampshire.

who’s using the water?

Of course, water is a renewable resource, but mother nature is not able to keep up with the pace of human activity.

Population growth means more agriculture, manufacturing, and sanitation. Agriculture accounts for the vast majority of our fresh water demands. Often regions devote 70 percent or more of their water towards growing crops for food or commodities such as cotton.

As part of Blog Action Day, we want to bring your attention to the water waste in the textile industry. Textiles are the third biggest user of water and cause of water pollution.

You may be surprised to learn that the fiber to make one simple cotton tee uses 713 gallons of water. Then, dying that shirt can take almost eight gallons. That’s a lot of water. Did you know that more than 2 billion t-shirts are sold each year? That’s a lot of water!

climate change and everyday choices

When you think about climate change causing sea levels to rise, more drought, longer droughts, world population increases and the precious little fresh water we have for all the creatures on this planet, we believe that water is better used for food than for clothing. Especially because there are excellent alternatives. We now have recycled PET fabric that’s as soft as cashmere and stronger than cotton. And we have ways to dye the fabric that use no water at the point of coloration.

We encourage everyone to make smart choices about water use every day. Everything from taking shorter showers, to using non-toxic cleaning supplies to choosing clothing that’s not needlessly consuming and polluting our fresh water. Together we can fight climate change and water scarcity.

The man who brings wonder to the world every night with Cirque du Soleil, wants to bring clean water to everyone in the world. Guy Laliberté’s OneDrop Foundation is staging a two hour online event tomorrow, October 8, at 8pm ET.

The live webcasts from around the world will bring together environmentalists, politicians, and celebrities. The organization has called on some pretty heavy hitters: Shakira, Bindi Irwin (Steve Irwin’s daughter), Vice President Al Gore, Salma Hayek, Bono, and many others.

The question is, with Guy broadcasting from the International Space Station and all these big names, why isn’t there more buzz for this event. Facebook shows only 2,311 “confirmed guests.” That seems pretty low. Showtimes’ Dexter had over 13,000 people saying they’d be watching the season premier.

Maybe people just have too many other crises on their minds at the moment? Or people just do not think that the lack of clean water for one in eight people on the planet or that 3.5 million people die each year from water-related disease is a major problem.

Where do you see accessible, clean water on the scale of things the world needs to address? And if you think it’s important, what are you doing about it?

This week’s headlines seem more ominous with each passing day: increasing unrest in Iran, missile threats from North Korea, waves of bombings in Iraq, displaced Pakistanis fleeing from the Taliban, and climate change forcing migration. Tell us what you think:

Which of these is the greatest threat to global safety and security? Unrest in Iran North Korean Missiles Climate Change Instability in Pakistan War in Iraq View Results  Loading ...