Climate change a problem - survey

Fifty-four percent of South Africans think that climate change is problem, a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has found.

"When asked how serious a problem climate change might be, 54 percent responded that it was either a somewhat serious or very serious problem," read the results of the South African attitudes to climate change survey published on the HSRC website on Tuesday.

Some of the perceived causes of climate change included air pollution, the burning of fossil fuels and power station emissions.

Also 27 percent of the 3164 people surveyed at the end of 2007 said they had never heard of global warming prior to the survey, compared to six percent who "knew a lot" about the matter.

The study also revealed that 44 percent of participants were more concerned about climate change now as opposed to a year ago.

According to the study this suggests an increase in awareness over time.

However when compared to other countries even developing ones like Nigeria, levels of awareness of the seriousness of the matter were low in South Africa.

In 2003, 65 percent of those polled in Nigeria thought climate change was serious compared to over 65 percent in 2006.

Fifteen percent of respondents said climate change would have an impact on food security, while 13 percent said this would have an impact on disease and a further 11 percent said this would have an impact on the standards of living.

The survey found that 29 percent of participants were dissatisfied with what the South African government was doing in preventing further climate changes.

"... But the most frequent response was 'can not choose' or 'don't know' which may indicate a general lack of awareness about what the government is in fact doing," it read. - Sapa