Fire crews fight a large fire which destroyed multiple homes in Wennington during the heatwave
(Picture: Getty Images)More than eight in 10 people say they are concerned about climate change, a new poll revealed on Tuesday, after last month’s record-breaking heatwave sparked fresh fears over global warming.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos in the days immediately after temperatures soared to a new UK high of 40.3C on July 19, showed 84 per cent are worried about climate change, matching the highest levels ever recorded by the polling firm.
More than half said they were “very concerned” while 72 per cent of those asked said they believed Britain is already feeling the effects of climate change.
Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos said: “These findings show that public concern about climate change is real and widespread but in reality this is nothing new. The public have been concerned about climate change for some time and recognise its effects are already with us. It is no surprise then that they want to see urgent action to address it, though some may disagree over the right action to take”.
The findings come after provisional statistics released by the Met Office showed July was the driest for England since 1935 and the driest on record for East Anglia, the south east and southern England.
Although rain is forecast for later this week, temperatures were set to rise to 29C on Tuesday with even hotter spells similar to those experienced last month predicted for later in August.
Following July’s heatwave ministers and climate experts warned the UK would have to adapt infrastructure to cope with the higher temperatures that scientists say will occur more regularly as a result of man-made climate change.
The London Fire Brigade experienced its busiest day since the Second World War on July 19 with crews attending 1,146 incidents on that day alone while rail services were severely disrupted as tracks and power lines were damaged by the heat.
However, Ipsos found that people are split between whether they think the hot weather was mainly caused by climate change as a result of human activity (40 per cent) or partly caused by this and partly by natural weather processes (45 per cent).
Compared with 2019, there has been a rise in those believing that it is mainly caused by climate change as a result of human activity - up from 26 per cent to 40 per cent now. Just 12 per cent believe it is mainly caused by natural weather processes.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two contenders battling to become Britain’s next Prime Minister, have both pledged to stick to Britain’s target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, but climate change has not been a prominent feature of the leadership campaign so far. Climate campaigners have accused both candidates of failing to provide detail of how they would ensure the UK reached its target to reduce harmful emissions.
According to the Ipsos poll, half think the UK should set a target of net zero earlier than 2050, while 26 per cent think 2050 is about right - again a similar pattern to 2019.
Among current Conservative supporters 39 per cent want the target brought forward while 34 per cent think 2050 is about right. Otherwise young people and graduates - and Labour supporters - are most likely to think the target should be brought forward.
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,052 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone: 21st-27th July 2022. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
