AAPG Climate Change Poll Results - 2020

Climate Change, Anthropocene, & Associated Issues

In September - October 2019, Aldrich and Shoup designed and oversaw the AAPG email-based poll of all members concerning whether or not AAPG should have a position paper and, specifically, should AAPG have a statement on anthropogenic climate change. The AAPG Executive Committee has reviewed the results of that poll and considered every comment provided by the members. We now wish to share the results of that poll with the membership. The raw numbers are shown in the table below. However, the Executive Committee spent some time to sort through the data to try and understand the distribution of responses and the demographics of those that took the time to respond. 

There were 3,226 members who filled out all or part of the poll [out of approximately 35,000 AAPG members who received the poll by e-mail ?]. There were some technical issues with the poll when it was first sent out, however, we have eliminated duplicate poll responses that resulted from that issue. Out of the more than 3,000 members who filled out the survey, there were 1,152 who also submitted comments, or about one-third of the respondents. These comments ranged from "thank you for asking for members' opinions," to criticism of the polling questions, and some interesting comments that were non sequitur to the topic at hand. The comments were analyzed to attempt to understand if the member (the names were kept anonymous from the analysis) leaned toward a position of believing in anthropogenic climate change or in a position of not believing in ACC. It needs to be noted that the Executive Committee, in requesting the poll, did not advocate a position for a statement but asked if a statement of any kind was needed.

Of the 1,152 members who added comments, there were 183 who could clearly be identified as opposing ACC (Anthropogenic Climate Change) in some manner and 141 who supported a position of ACC in some manner: a 56-44 percentage split. This is a similar percentage to the response for a statement: 55 percent in favor of a statement. When we examine the responses from those who do not believe in ACC: 42 percent would like a statement and 23 percent do not. Likewise, looking at the responses from those who do believe in ACC, 14 percent do not want a statement and 21 percent do.  Thus, the number of those who favor a statement is equally divided between those who believe in ACC and those that do not. Additionally, from the comments, both those who believe in ACC and those who do not also believe that the science supports their position.

The authors concluded that:
•  AAPG members are almost equally split on whether or not AAPG should have a statement on climate, with those wanting a statement having a slight majority.
• AAPG members are also almost equally split as to whether humans have a significant impact on climate.

Those members who believe in anthropogenic climate change are slightly more supportive of AAPG having a climate statement than those members who do not believe human activity strongly influences climate.

[The 3,226 member responding to the survey represent what % of the total number of members who received the poll by e-mail? Also, what is the % of AAPG members polled who are members of the Division of Environmental Geosciences (DEG)?  If 35,000 AAPG members, then the poll response represented only 9% of AAPG membership, which is hardly representative of AAPG on the subject of ACC.]