Attitudes toward global warming, climate change and other environmental issues among young Queenslanders

A representative longitudinal sample of 16 to 17 year olds drawn from schools across Queensland shows young Australians to be strongly supportive of action to prevent the impact of human induced global warming and more likely than the OECD country average to favour practices that promote sustainable development. Social background is an important determinant of environmental attitudes. Young women are more concerned about environmental issues than young men, including global warming and climate change, and are more likely to view global warming as a serious threat to Australia. The level of trust in environmental groups has declined over time, although again, female students are more trusting than males. Students whose parents are university educated and those planning to attend university after leaving school exhibit pro-environmental attitudes to a greater extent than other students, demonstrating the importance of childhood socialisation in the formation of pro-environmental attitudes.