Record temperatures, wildfires, drought, and crop failures have is helping convince more Americans that climate change is real and occurring, reports Bloomberg.
70 percent of respondents in a nationwide study conducted by the University of Texas said they believe climate change is taking place, up from 65 percent in a similar poll conducted by the university’s UT Energy Poll in March. The number marks a sharp increase from the 52 percent who thought climate change is a reality during the record snowfall of 2010.
The last last twelve months have been the warmest on record for the contiguous United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In addition over half of the U.S. was under drought conditions, the highest since 1956.
Devastating and massive fires also swept through the Southwest in June, including the biggest fire ever in New Mexico and two of Colorado’s most destructive ever.
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