Americans, Politics and Science Issues
The general public’s political views are strongly linked to their attitudes on climate and energy issues. But politics is a less important factor on biomedical, food safety, space issues.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Science
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Major Gaps Between the Public, Scientists on Key Issues
Despite broadly similar views about the overall place of science in America, there are striking differences between the views of the public and those of the scientific community connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on a host of science-related issues, from whether genetically modified foods are safe to eat to whether the world’s growing population will be a major problem. See how their views differ by clicking on the topics below.
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Share of counties where whites are a minority has doubled since 1980
As of last summer, 364 counties, independent cities and other county-level equivalents (11.6% of the total) did not have non-Hispanic white majorities – the most in modern history.
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Growth from Asia drives surge in U.S. foreign students
Asians, especially Chinese, are responsible for most of the sharp increase in foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities. Foreign students are more likely to study science, engineering and math than U.S. students as a whole, especially at the post-baccalaureate level.
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U.S. Catholics less positive toward pope on environment, sex abuse scandal than other issues
55% of Catholics rated Francis positively on addressing sex abuse, and 53% gave him high marks on environmental issues. But these were two out of nine areas in which Francis drew the least positive ratings.
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Ideological divide over global warming as wide as ever
Pope Francis will publish an encyclical addressing environmental issues and climate change this Thursday, a subject that continues to deeply divide Americans, including Catholics, along partisan and ideological lines.
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Catholics Divided Over Global Warming
A solid majority of U.S. Catholics believe that Earth is warming. But climate change is a highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.
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A look at popes and their encyclicals
Popes have written encyclicals on an array of topics, ranging from the nature of work to the virginity of Jesus’ mother, Mary.
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Scientists more worried than public about world’s growing population
Over the course of history, many scientists and activists have raised alarm about population numbers that only increase every year.
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What we know about Cuba’s economy
Despite some reforms, the island country’s economy remains dominated by the government and state-owned enterprises.
