Poll: British skeptical of climate claims

LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- Surprising politicians, a poll released Sunday indicates a majority of the British public does not believe human activity has caused global warming.

The Ipsos MORI poll, published by The Observer, found 60 percent of the 1,039 British adults asked agreed that "many scientific experts still question if humans are contributing to climate change," with a further 40 percent saying they "sometimes think climate change might not be as bad as people say."

But 75 percent of the respondents said they were "concerned about climate change."

"People are broadly concerned, but not entirely convinced," Phil Downing, Ipsos MORI's head of environmental research, told the British newspaper. "Despite many attempts to broaden the environment movement, it doesn't seem to have become fully embedded as a mainstream concern."

The public's perception of climate change and that of many political campaigners, who believe climate change questions have been settled, seem to be disconnected, the newspaper said. The poll results come a time when a United Nations report, authored by 2,500 scientists, found it was 90 percent likely that human activity is triggering climate change.