Wine industry driving climate change
Vines are reflected in rain droplets at the Cambridge vineyard, a part of the Frogmore Creek winery located on the outskirts of Hobart in Tasmania June 3, 2014. Australia's wine-growing industry is responding to the rigors of climate change. A study by the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that up to 73 percent of Australian land currently used for viticulture could become unsuitable by 2050. As the country's traditional wine growing regions, including the Barossa, the Hunter Valley and Margaret River grow ever hotter and drier, winemakers are rushing to the cool climate of the tiny island state of Tasmania. While the national wine industry has shrunk 1.9 percent annually from 2009 to 2014, the Tasmanian state industry is growing at a rate of close to 10 percent per annum, according to the Tasmanian Climate Change Office. Picture taken June 3, 2014. Reuters/David Gray

Around 78 per cent of survey participants in Australia agreed upon the occurrence of climate change, but their reasons are driven by the views of the political parties they favour, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research says.

Approximately one out of four Coalition participants blamed human activities to be the main cause of constantly increasing climate change occurrences, while more than half of the Liberal participants of the survey agreed that the change in the climate is a natural process and no human could be blamed for the same. About 59 percent of Labor supporters agreed that climate change occurs because of humans, and 28 percent Liberals rejected the claim, 22 percent Nationals blamed humans, but 76 per cent Greens said no to human effect on climate change.

Nearly 18,000 Australians have been surveyed by CSIRO over the past five years, of which 78 per cent sided with continuous climate change affecting the global platform. A summarised report was released by the organisation, taking into account the survey findings ranging between 2010 and 2014 in the absence of the media on Tuesday.

CSIRO’s Zoe Leviston said that the factors, including demographics, age, gender and income status, hardly impacted the survey result on what people had to say about the climate change issue and what they expect to do and to be done to resolve the problem.

She said that the opinions of the people on climate change were driven more by world views than political allegiances. “I think it’s an oversimplification to say it’s driven by political leanings,” she told the ABC on Wednesday. “It suggests that people’s attitude towards climate change are more opinions that are responsive to changes in the social environment and possibly the physical environment, and that fluctuation reflects quite subtle changes.”

In 2014, 80 per cent of people surveyed accepted the occurrence of climate change, with 62 per cent blaming human activity for the change.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES