Not everyone realises the extent of climate change (Picture: Getty)

Most people underestimate the extent of climate change and plastic pollution, new research suggests.

People were asked questions about how bad the environmental crisis was, and consistently got it wrong.

Only a quarter of people quizzed by Ipsos Mori correctly identified that all 20 of the world’s hottest years on record had occurred in the last 22 years.

On average, people guessed that 12 of the hottest years had occurred in that time, the figures show.


People also underestimated how bad our problem with plastic waste is.

They thought that on average, less than half of the plastic created globally has ended up in landfill or as litter.

A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire near the village of Makrimalli on the island of Evia, northeast of Athens (Picture: Getty)

A glacier carving in Antarctica (Picture: Shutterstock)

Plastics and other detritus line the shore of the Thames Estuary last year in Cliffe, Kent (Picture: Getty)

In reality, the true figure is 79% of the 6.3 billion tonnes created.



People also thought there was more recycling than there really is, believing 26% of plastic was recycled when the correct figure is only 9%.

Only a third of the public correctly think that the population sizes of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles in the world has fallen by 60% since 1970, which is the estimate made by conservation organisations WWF and ZSL.

Half of people thought wildlife populations had fallen by 25% in that time.

Cattle and hippo wallow in the mud due to drought in the Lake Ngami, Botswana (Picture: Getty)

Climate activists protest near the UN headquarters on August 30, 2019, in New York (Picture: Getty)

There were also misconceptions about where greenhouse gases are coming from, with those polled suggesting that 20% of pollution came from flying – compared to the real figure of 2%.

People also overestimated the role of recycling in reducing their carbon footprint, and underestimated the impact of avoiding one transatlantic flight.

And just 21% selected having one fewer child as a top way of cutting an individual’s greenhouse gas emissions, although it is the most significant thing that can be done, the research said.

The study was carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London.

Bobby Duffy, director of the institute, said: ‘A little more understanding of the scale of the issues, the most effective actions we can take and just how normal and widespread concern has become couldn’t hurt.’

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