Washington Hunter
Well-known member
BY MARGARET HAIR
KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON -- Duck season? Not yet.
Rabbit season? Not until fall.
Global climate change altering the seasons? Right now, according to the results of a recent survey of U.S. hunters and fishers.
A majority -- 76 percent -- of the nation's sportsmen agreed that global warming is occurring, according to the Nationwide Opinion Survey of Hunters and Anglers commissioned by National Wildlife Federation, and 73 percent said they believe the trend has already affected or will affect hunting and fishing conditions.
The sportsmen are part of an increasingly large and bipartisan group concerned with climate change, said Jeremy Symons, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Global Warming Campaign.
"Global warming is an issue that's reaching a tipping point in America, where American sportsmen are the latest to add their voice to the call to action," Symons said.
Of the 1,031 hunters and anglers surveyed, results show that 76 percent agree that global warming is occurring. An equal percentage of respondents said they had observed effects of climate change firsthand.
Fifty-four percent said seasonal weather changes such as earlier springs, hotter summers or unusual droughts were related to global warming.
Claiming global warming -- a rise in temperature caused by heat trapped in the Earth's atmosphere by the emission of "greenhouse gases" such as carbon dioxide -- as the most critical threat to protecting wildlife in the future, Symons said habitats could be destroyed.
A gradual increase in temperature can dry up wetlands that serve as breeding ground for waterfowl -- namely ducks -- or cause harm to cold-water fish such as trout and salmon, Symons said. Rising sea levels could end in a loss of coastal wetlands and the fisheries found along them.
In all cases, the results mean trouble for hunters, anglers and the game they chase.
The poll, conducted by Responsive Management, a public opinion and attitude research firm in Harrisonburg, Va., took a random sample of license-holding hunters and anglers across the country.
Those surveyed were asked about observed changes to environmental conditions where they live, and if they believed those changes were linked to global warming. The poll followed with a series of statements about the effects of global warming in which respondents expressed their opinions on a scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
Specifics such as where the hunters and anglers were located and what kind of game they hunt or fish for were not included in the questions.
Symons said that one element that emerged clearly in poll results was the political tendencies of the American sportsmen. According to survey results, of the 77 percent who voted in the 2004 election, respondents supported President Bush by a 2 to 1 margin over his opponent, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
To the question, "On political issues, do you consider yourself conservative, moderate or liberal?", 36 percent of respondents identified themselves as conservative and 37 percent as moderate. Only 11 percent responded as being liberal.
"You're seeing, in all, a lot more diversity and a very broad-based called for action," Symons said. "That spans all political parties, spans all ideologies, and really is focused on the central moral issue, which is: What kind of world are we prepared to leave our children?"
But while an essentially conservative demographic is speaking up about global climate change, Symons said that policy- makers are not necessarily responsive.
"Here you have a constituency that has supported President Bush in the last election, but is clearly at odds with him on the central issue facing the future of wildlife," he said.
According to poll results, 71 percent of sportsmen either strongly or moderately agreed that "global warming is a serious threat to fish and wildlife."
The survey also asked questions about how government should address global warming.
To the statement, "Congress should pass legislation that sets a clear national goal for reducing global warming pollution," 75 percent of respondents agreed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON -- Duck season? Not yet.
Rabbit season? Not until fall.
Global climate change altering the seasons? Right now, according to the results of a recent survey of U.S. hunters and fishers.
A majority -- 76 percent -- of the nation's sportsmen agreed that global warming is occurring, according to the Nationwide Opinion Survey of Hunters and Anglers commissioned by National Wildlife Federation, and 73 percent said they believe the trend has already affected or will affect hunting and fishing conditions.
The sportsmen are part of an increasingly large and bipartisan group concerned with climate change, said Jeremy Symons, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Global Warming Campaign.
"Global warming is an issue that's reaching a tipping point in America, where American sportsmen are the latest to add their voice to the call to action," Symons said.
Of the 1,031 hunters and anglers surveyed, results show that 76 percent agree that global warming is occurring. An equal percentage of respondents said they had observed effects of climate change firsthand.
Fifty-four percent said seasonal weather changes such as earlier springs, hotter summers or unusual droughts were related to global warming.
Claiming global warming -- a rise in temperature caused by heat trapped in the Earth's atmosphere by the emission of "greenhouse gases" such as carbon dioxide -- as the most critical threat to protecting wildlife in the future, Symons said habitats could be destroyed.
A gradual increase in temperature can dry up wetlands that serve as breeding ground for waterfowl -- namely ducks -- or cause harm to cold-water fish such as trout and salmon, Symons said. Rising sea levels could end in a loss of coastal wetlands and the fisheries found along them.
In all cases, the results mean trouble for hunters, anglers and the game they chase.
The poll, conducted by Responsive Management, a public opinion and attitude research firm in Harrisonburg, Va., took a random sample of license-holding hunters and anglers across the country.
Those surveyed were asked about observed changes to environmental conditions where they live, and if they believed those changes were linked to global warming. The poll followed with a series of statements about the effects of global warming in which respondents expressed their opinions on a scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
Specifics such as where the hunters and anglers were located and what kind of game they hunt or fish for were not included in the questions.
Symons said that one element that emerged clearly in poll results was the political tendencies of the American sportsmen. According to survey results, of the 77 percent who voted in the 2004 election, respondents supported President Bush by a 2 to 1 margin over his opponent, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
To the question, "On political issues, do you consider yourself conservative, moderate or liberal?", 36 percent of respondents identified themselves as conservative and 37 percent as moderate. Only 11 percent responded as being liberal.
"You're seeing, in all, a lot more diversity and a very broad-based called for action," Symons said. "That spans all political parties, spans all ideologies, and really is focused on the central moral issue, which is: What kind of world are we prepared to leave our children?"
But while an essentially conservative demographic is speaking up about global climate change, Symons said that policy- makers are not necessarily responsive.
"Here you have a constituency that has supported President Bush in the last election, but is clearly at odds with him on the central issue facing the future of wildlife," he said.
According to poll results, 71 percent of sportsmen either strongly or moderately agreed that "global warming is a serious threat to fish and wildlife."
The survey also asked questions about how government should address global warming.
To the statement, "Congress should pass legislation that sets a clear national goal for reducing global warming pollution," 75 percent of respondents agreed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
