Climate change is a major global concern for security | Nature

Threats to the planet's climate were cited as the main source of concern by most respondents in 13 of the 26 countries where the survey was conducted, including Brazil. Islamist terrorism in the "Islamic State" group tops the list in eight countries and four others, including the United States, cyberattacks are cited as the main cause of fear among the population.

Concerns about climate change have increased sharply since 2013, with double-digit percentage increases in research conducted in countries such as the United States, Mexico, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. South Africa. 73% of respondents, followed by fears about the global economy (66%) and cyberattacks (61%).

The survey also revealed growing concern in several countries regarding the global power and influence of the United States. Among Brazilians, 53% cited this as one of their main fears, the same percentage of worries facing an Islamic terrorist attack in the country.

On average, 45% of respondents in the 26 countries said they fear the global influence of the United States in 2018, which represents a significant increase from the 25% that gave the same answer in 2013 Last year, this concern had been half the population of ten countries, including Germany, Japan and South Korea, had registered fears in seven countries in 2017 and in just three in 2013.

In Germany, climate concerns also top the list (71%), followed by the terrorist threat (68%) and cyberattacks (66%). The American influence was identified as a threat to security by 49% of respondents.

In an interview with DW, Jacob Poushter, director of the Pew Research Center and lead author of the study, said that fears over the United States outweighed the concerns raised by the Russia and China. "This is a change from 2013, when a slight majority of people said Russia and China were a greater threat than the US." This is a very marked change ", did he declare.

Poushter noted that by 2018, a significantly larger number of US citizens have expressed concerns about climate change, an increase of 19 percentage points since 2013.

"This is a threat The difference is that in the United States, party division is very broad and Democrats are much more likely to make climate change a bigger threat than Republicans. There is a difference of 56 percentage points, which is a great deal. "