Survey: Canadians Say Climate Change Is A Larger Threat Than Terrorism For New Decade


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January 12, 2010 7:35 a.m. EST

Topics: Canada, Environment
AHN Staff

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) - As the world ushered in the second decade of the millennium, changes have been observed regarding the perception of what people perceive as threats to their lives and existence. Among Canadians, a new survey showed that a large number believe climate change is now a bigger threat than terrorism.

According to the poll made by the Innovative Research Group for the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute, 49 percent pointed to climate change as the main threat, while only 28 percent identified terrorism.

The survey was made from Dec. 22, 2009 to Jan. 4, 2010. In contrast, in 2004, 49 percent named terrorism as the number one threat, while 52 percent said it was climate change. Although climate change was the top reply in 2004, the difference with terrorism was only three percent.

After six years, the difference has widened to 21 percent.

Experts believe the shift in Canadian's perception is because 9/11 is no longer fresh in the mind of residents and the nation has a relatively secure environment. The bulk of the major threats are in other parts of the world, not in Canada.

Aside from the two threats, other threats identified by survey respondents were the growing number of immigrants and refugees, globalization and epidemics such as AIDS and the flu.

A previous Innovative Research Group study found that 49 percent of Canadians did not approve of Ottawa's position at the recent Copenhagen climate change conference.


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