Climate Change Documentary "Years of Living Dangerously" Wins Emmy

In various polls, global warming invariably ends up at or near the bottom of the worry list. Maybe now, after one of the coldest winters and chilliest summers ever, GW will move farther from the bottom of the pile. Except the folks will be rooting for MORE global warming. So we can have normal summers again.
Driving on the N.E. extension of the PA turnpike this week, I noticed some leaves already changing.

GW doesn’t even register here:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx

Also,
“Public concern about environmental issues including climate change has slumped to a 20-year low since the financial crisis, a global study reveals… Despite years of studies showing the impact of global warming on the planet, only 49 per cent of people now consider climate change a very serious issue – far fewer than at the beginning of the worldwide financial crisis in 2009.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/green-fatigue-s…

Most feel GW claims are exaggerated:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167960/americans-likely-say-global-warming-e…

As it happens, this August has been cool at my location (southern New Hampshire). We haven't seen any 90 degree days yet this month, and the long range forecast doesn't get us above 80 degrees. But other places have seen summers much hotter than normal. Like my mother, who is two blocks from Puget Sound and has seen some 90 degree days. Ninety degrees in summer is common for inland parts of metro Seattle, but it's usually much cooler near the waterfront--her building does not have air conditioning because at the time it was built, it was rare for temperatures to get warm enough to need it. If you look throughout the world, you see more places where it's warmer than the average of the last 30 years than places where it's cooler--and that's how it's been, every month, since the 1980s.

So I'm not surprised that leaves are staring to turn at the higher elevations of the Northeast, especially for trees that are under stress. That used to be normal, rather than unusual, for this time of year. Just like the past winter would have been considered a normal winter 30 years ago.

You’re right – I should have said over 40% (not “most”) feel GW claims are exaggerated.
But you appear to be dodging the main point: GW is near the bottom of the problem priority list, if it shows up at all.

An analogy would be saying that polls show 1) over 40% think baseball player X’s talent is over-estimated, but 2) player X doesn’t even make the list of the top 50 baseball players.

England’s chilly too.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727734/Wet-cold-bank-holiday-w…

Yes, indeed, that latest Gallup poll is bad news; people's listing of climate change is very low as a priority. But the poll also listed far more topics than most such polls, so there is more competition. And lack of concern over climate change is a problem. However, you seem to be implying that scientific concern of climate change actually IS overstated. Is that your point?

But, on the other hand, we are seeing climate change actually appearing in certain areas as a factor in elections. People who vote don't represent the public in general, but in some ways people who vote are the only people who matter (they are the only ones who show up!). I suspect that will increase over time.

Regarding it being cold some places, that's weather, not climate. See this for July's anomaly in temperature to get an idea:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/global-maps.php?imgs%5B%5D=map…

It is important to keep clear the distinction between weather and climate.

“And lack of concern over climate change is a problem.”

Many scientists, and many other people, including many people who actually vote, would disagree.

“It is important to keep clear the distinction between weather and climate.”

Oh, I think I understand the distinction. However, they’re of course much related. One could say climate is the sum of the “weathers”. Merriam Webster defines “climate” as
1)a region with particular weather patterns or conditions.
2)the usual weather conditions in a particular place or region.

Am I saying the climate in the North Eastern U.S. or in England or elsewhere is changing? Not necessarily. But if it IS, a case could be made for it not getting warmer.

What about global temps staying steady for the last 17 years?

Of course, all the above is minor league stuff. How about the majors? How about significant and indisputable climate change – BEFORE SUVs and factory smokestacks?
“At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today. But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation.”
http://www.livescience.com/4180-sahara-desert-lush-populated.html

See Noevo refers to some cold weeks in August, but one wonders why he ignores the warmer than usual July:
http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/july-2014-in-top-ten-warm…
(oh, we know, weather and climate are the same)