Index of University Press Releases

April 29, 2008

DWU Tiger Poll: Global warming a problem
but West River concerns diminish

MITCHELL — South Dakotans continue to see the issue of global warming as a concern, but attitudes about the seriousness of the problem are moderating West River, according to researchers at Dakota Wesleyan University.

The poll conducted by DWU, which surveyed both North and South Dakotans, indicated that 77 percent of South Dakotans and 71 percent of North Dakotans think global warming is a very serious or a somewhat serious problem, with only 20 percent of South Dakotans and 25 percent of North Dakotans stating that global warming is not a problem.

The results of the DWU poll were almost identical to a similar one conducted by the university in South Dakota last year, and remain consistent with recent nationwide polls which indicate that between 70 and 75 percent of Americans believe global warming is a very serious or somewhat serious problem. Since 2008 is the first year DWU has conducted a poll in North Dakota, no comparative data about attitudes toward global warming in that state is available.

The poll of 527 North and South Dakotans, conducted between March 24 and April 3, 2008, asked respondents about the gravity of the problem.

Where people lived in South Dakota seemed to be a factor for those surveyed. Thirty-five percent of respondents who lived west of the Missouri River viewed global warming as a very serious problem, while only 31 percent east of the river viewed it as a very serious problem. The 2008 results vary considerably from the previous year’s results, when 46 percent of respondents who lived west of the Missouri River viewed global warming as a very serious problem.

“The fact that much of western South Dakota has been in drought conditions for several years definitely influenced the survey results,” stated Don Simmons, director of the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at DWU. “The above-average snowpack and improved lake level conditions in the Black Hills this spring may explain the 11 percent decline among those living west of the Missouri River who think the situation is very serious.”

Democrats responding to the poll perceived global warming as a more serious problem than Republicans. Fifty percent of Democrats in both of the Dakotas viewed global warming and climate change as a very serious problem, while only 17 percent of Republicans viewed it as very serious.

The DWU Tiger Poll is a joint project of the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service and the DWU Mathematics Department. Donald Simmons, Michael Catalano and Rocky Von Eye form the faculty research team for the DWU Tiger Poll. Student research coordinators for the 2008 DWU Tiger Poll are Nicole Dufek, Geddes; Andrew Frank, Mitchell; Katrina Jarding, Alexandria; and Marcus Vontz, Cambridge, Neb. Student statisticians are Nick Gates, Mitchell; Courtney Arseneault, Custer; and Andrew Leggott, Johnson Lake, Neb.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent for the entire sample, with entire statewide sample margins of error at plus or minus 6 percent. Subset sample margins of error vary depending on selected sample sizes. Totals may not equal 100 percent as all percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

More information about the poll is available online at www.mcgoverncenter.com/poll2008.