Don’t like the weather in Canada? Wait. Or change your mind.In any event, a new Leger poll has found Canadians’ attitudes about the weather to be about as consistent — or predictable — as a Chinook day in Calgary.The online survey of 1,500 people conducted for the Canadian Press found that almost three quarters of those surveyed worried that climate change was the main cause of a balmy and snow-free December in most parts of the country.However, an even greater percentage — 81% — said they were loving it anyway, “because they did not have to deal with shovelling or the cold.” A further 67% agreed they liked it “because I am not much of a winter person to begin with.”.Even more confounding, two-thirds made a connection between natural disasters such as forest fires, late winters and poorer air quality with a perceived trend of global warming, but 67% said they hadn’t personally experienced negative impacts from said warming or been affected by extreme weather events.“There is a growing concern over climate change itself,” said Leger vice-president Christian Bourque. “But those apparent contradictions (show) we’re not there yet in terms of climate preparedness, making sure our public infrastructure and local policies are aligned with the fact that these things will happen more often than they did before.”Century-old temperature records were shattered in several cities across Canada, including Calgary where golf courses were still open before Christmas. On December 6, Bow Island in southern Alberta posted a day-time high of 19 degrees Celsius. Edmonton didn’t get its first significant snowfall until January 9..Still, the level of climate change concern is down from 67% recorded in the summer at the peak of the wildfire season. Otherwise the results of a similar survey in June were almost the same.The results were consistent among demographic groups; male and female, urban and rural. Women tend to be slightly more concerned about climate than men, but not significantly so.The results are also fairly consistent across the country, with the exception of Alberta where one in four aren’t “worried at all” about climate change and one in five — 20% — simply don’t think it exists, which is double the 12% recorded in other parts of the country.Leger conducted the survey between January 12 and14. Although online polls don’t report margins of error, Leger said a similar sized sample would yield a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Don’t like the weather in Canada? Wait. Or change your mind.In any event, a new Leger poll has found Canadians’ attitudes about the weather to be about as consistent — or predictable — as a Chinook day in Calgary.The online survey of 1,500 people conducted for the Canadian Press found that almost three quarters of those surveyed worried that climate change was the main cause of a balmy and snow-free December in most parts of the country.However, an even greater percentage — 81% — said they were loving it anyway, “because they did not have to deal with shovelling or the cold.” A further 67% agreed they liked it “because I am not much of a winter person to begin with.”.Even more confounding, two-thirds made a connection between natural disasters such as forest fires, late winters and poorer air quality with a perceived trend of global warming, but 67% said they hadn’t personally experienced negative impacts from said warming or been affected by extreme weather events.“There is a growing concern over climate change itself,” said Leger vice-president Christian Bourque. “But those apparent contradictions (show) we’re not there yet in terms of climate preparedness, making sure our public infrastructure and local policies are aligned with the fact that these things will happen more often than they did before.”Century-old temperature records were shattered in several cities across Canada, including Calgary where golf courses were still open before Christmas. On December 6, Bow Island in southern Alberta posted a day-time high of 19 degrees Celsius. Edmonton didn’t get its first significant snowfall until January 9..Still, the level of climate change concern is down from 67% recorded in the summer at the peak of the wildfire season. Otherwise the results of a similar survey in June were almost the same.The results were consistent among demographic groups; male and female, urban and rural. Women tend to be slightly more concerned about climate than men, but not significantly so.The results are also fairly consistent across the country, with the exception of Alberta where one in four aren’t “worried at all” about climate change and one in five — 20% — simply don’t think it exists, which is double the 12% recorded in other parts of the country.Leger conducted the survey between January 12 and14. Although online polls don’t report margins of error, Leger said a similar sized sample would yield a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
