From a press release:
According to a new poll released today, 80% of American voters believe a calamitous terrorist attack could happen in their lifetime while 74% believe that a devastating flu pandemic could occur in the same period.
The nationwide poll (with a margin of error of ± 3.5%), conducted May 22-25 by Bill McInturff with Public Opinion Strategies and Anna Greenberg with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for SCI FI Channel and NBC News Productions, also found that 37% of American voters believe the nation is unprepared for a major terrorist attack, while 40% feel the country is unprepared for a pandemic outbreak.
When asked about two other scenarios, 47% of American voters said they believe that global warming could cause devastating climate change during their lifetime, while 31% believe that there could be a major asteroid collision with the Earth in their lifetime. According to the poll, 62% believe that the nation is unprepared for the devastating consequences of global warming while 78% say that the nation is unprepared for an asteroid collision.
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According to the analysis by McInturff and Greenberg, “Across terrorist attacks, global warming and to a lesser extent, disease pandemics, Republicans and Conservatives view the country and themselves as being more prepared than Independents and Liberals.” On the likelihood of a major terrorist attack, 85% of Republicans believe it will happen in their lifetimes while 77% of Democrats and 67% percent of Independents believe it will happen. On the question of whether the country is prepared for a devastating terrorist attack, 74% of Republicans versus 58% of Independents and 53% of Democrats believe it is.
Democratic voters (56%) and Independent voters (55%) believe that they are likely to see the severe consequences of global warming in their lifetimes versus just 36% of Republicans. Seventy-three percent of Independents believe the nation is unprepared for global warming impacts while 65% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans feel that way.
