Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Passport
  • Support WSKG
Donate
  • Donate
  • logo
  • logo
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
  • Donate
  • More
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Passport
    • Support WSKG

WSKG - Local news and arts, broadcasting NPR radio and PBS TV.

WSKG thanks our sponsors...
  • Donate your vehicle to support WSKG

WSKG (https://wskg.org/news/poll-climate-change-causing-problems-for-significant-number-of-pennsylvanians/)

  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
Listen Live WSKG
Listen Live WSKG Classical

Watch Live WSKG TV
Watch Live PBS Kids
Learn at Home
Covid-19 information

Poll: Climate Change Causing Problems For Significant Number Of Pennsylvanians

By Amy Sisk | April 8, 2018
More
  • More on climate change
  • Subscribe to climate change

A road sign is reflected in the waters of the Connequenesing Creek that overflowed it's banks along Evergreen Mill road after heavy rains from storms over Sunday into Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 in Harmony, Pa. Emergency officials suspect tornadoes and straight-line winds left behind a trail of damage Sunday that started in Indiana and continued through Ohio and into Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Across Pennsylvania, four in 10 registered voters say they have personally experienced problems related to climate change, according to a recent poll from StateImpact Pennsylvania and Franklin & Marshall College.

Dealing with extreme weather is a common theme among Pennsylvanians who responded that they believe climate change is affecting them. Some have had to cancel vacations due to hurricanes, while others have experienced flooding in their basements.

For Carol Gingrich of Bushkill, a town in the Pocono mountains along the New Jersey border, it’s the seemingly nonstop storms.

“We have gone through four nor’easters just this winter,” she said. “Now, it’s not unusual to have a nor’easter come onto the East Coast like this. But four pretty much back to back, and one really devastated the area, is pretty intense.”

She said the first storm knocked out power for a week, forcing her and her 90-year-old mother to stay in a hotel an hour away that had electricity.

Scientists have not specifically linked this year’s nor’easters to climate change. More and more, scientists are researching whether to attribute climate change as the cause of an individual storm. But Gingrich’s comments and those of others in the poll echo the consensus of leading climate experts, that climate change is exacerbating extreme weather-related events across the globe, ranging from heat waves to wildfires to heavy rainfall.

Sharon Tapp, a lifelong resident of York, drew a link between climate change and intense bouts of rain in her area. Sometimes, water would flood her home.

“It started becoming an issue I would think about 10 years ago, and it was happening fairly frequently,” she said. “I ended up then spending some money and some time getting some waterproofing done in my basement, and for the last two years I haven’t had any issues.”

While not all poll respondents said they personally have experienced problems related to climate change, 62 percent said they believe it is causing problems, somewhere in the world, right now.

Berwood Yost, director of F&M’s Center for Opinion Research, said the poll shows Democrats and independents are much more likely than Republicans to believe climate change is happening, and that the state should do more to address it. Still, 53 percent of Republicans responded they believe climate change is causing problems now or will in the future.

“It’s real. There are partisan differences but, for the most part, people expect something to happen,” Yost said. “They want to see government do something about it.”

Two-thirds of overall respondents said they would “definitely” or “probably” like the state government to take further action to address problems associated with climate change.

Recent Posts

  • Three-Quarters Of New Yorkers Plan To Get COVID Vaccine

    ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - Roughly three-quarters of New Yorkers say they have either already been vaccinated against COVID-19 or plan to do so; the remainder don't plan on getting the vaccine.  Those are the findings of a new poll from Siena College. Pollster Steve Greenberg said the largest numbers of survey respondents who say they won't get vaccinated are represented among five different demographic groups:  Republicans, independents, African Americans, Latinos, and voters under the age of 35.

  • New York Women Celebrate First Female Vice President

    SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) - When Kamala Harris is sworn in today as the nation's first female vice president, it's a milestone that will not go unnoticed in central New York. It's a day that Sally Roesch Wagner, a women's suffrage movement historian and founder of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, has been waiting for, for a long time.

  • Climate Scientist Michael Mann Interview: ‘We’re Going To Need Every Tool We Have’

    STATE COLLEGE, PA (WPSU) - Dr. Michael E. Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State and director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. He is recognized around the world as a leading expert on climate change.

  • Cuomo Presents Tale of Two Budgets, Threatens to Sue Federal Gov’t Over Aid Request

    ALBANY, NY (WSKG) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his budget address Tuesday, said the state’s fiscal future is dependent on how much aid it receives from Washington under the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden and the Democratic-led Congress. Cuomo is seeking $15 billion to plug two years of state budget gaps, and he’s threatening to sue if he doesn’t get it.

  • Cuomo Proposes Legal Marijuana for Third Year, With New Changes

    NEW YORK NOW - Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a new proposal Tuesday to legalize marijuana in New York for adult, recreational use that would set aside a specific amount of tax revenue annually for social equity purposes, like reinvestment in communities disproportionately affected by the state’s drug laws. That’s different from Cuomo’s previous marijuana legalization proposals, which allowed funding for social equity purposes, but didn’t earmark an exact amount.

WSKG thanks our sponsors...

About WSKG

WSKG connects you to local and global news and the arts online, on the radio, and on TV. NPR and PBS affiliate.

Contact Us

email: WSKGcomment@wskg.org

phone: 607.729.0100

address: 601 Gates Road, Vestal, NY 13850

DONATE

Pay an underwriting invoice

  • WSKG
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Science
  • News
  • Radio
  • Schedule
  • TV
  • About
  • WSKG Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Public Reports & Policies
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Protect My Public Media
FCC PUBLIC FILES
WSKG-FM
WSQX-FM
WSQG-FM
WSQE
WSQA
WSQC-FM
WSQN
WSKG-TV
WSKA
Disabled and need assistance with the online FCC public file?
Contact Gregory Keeler
WSKG
601 Gates Road
Vestal, New York 13850
607-729-0100
gkeeler@wskg.org

Stay Connected

Like Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on InstagramSubscribe via RSS

© Copyright 2021, WSKG

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

Change Location
To find awesome listings near you!