A third of Britons say climate change will lead to extinction of the human race
One in three Britons believe climate change will lead to the extinction of the human race, a poll has revealed.
The YouGov survey found that 33% of British adults thought climate change would cause the end of humanity.
9% thought it was “very likely” and 24% said it was “quite likely”.
A total of 1,633 Britons were surveyed for the worldwide poll.
In a survey by YouGov for Yahoo News UK earlier this year, one in three Britons over the age of 55 said the threat of climate change is over-exaggerated.
In the latest poll, exactly half of Britons said they believe climate change will cause small wars, and one in four (26%) say it will start a new world war.
Two-thirds of Britons (66%) said climate change will cause serious damage to the global economy.
And seven in 10 think it will lead to cities being lost to rising sea levels and the mass displacement of people across the globe.
YouGov polled 30,000 people in 28 different countries for its survey, published in the aftermath of huge fires which ravaged large parts of the Amazon rainforest.
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Globally, most participants accepted that climate change is happening and that humanity is at least partly responsible.
The majority of countries believe that the worst effects of climate change can still be avoided, from a low of 50% in the US to a peak of 82% in Spain.
In Britain, 68% of people said their country could be doing more to tackle climate change, with only 23% saying it was doing its utmost.
When it came to taking personal responsibility, 42% of Britons said they were doing as much as they could individually, compared with 49% who said they could do more.
Around three-quarters (74%) of Britons said businesses and industry are responsible for the current situation with climate change, while a similar figure (73%) also blamed the governments of wealthy nations.
