Doyle Rice

USA TODAY

Eight out of 10 Americans now believe the climate is changing, according to a new survey conducted for Munich Re America, the world's largest reinsurance firm.

"Our survey findings indicate that national sentiment over whether or not climatic changes are occurring has finally reached a tipping point," said Tony Kuczinski, president of Munich Re America.

The survey's release today coincides with negotiations among more than 190 countries that got underway this month in Lima, Peru, on a long-elusive global climate accord that's supposed to be adopted next year in Paris.

Pledges by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama last month to limit their emissions after 2020 sent a powerful signal that a global deal to limit carbon emissions could be possible next year. Those emissions are creating greenhouse gases that a consensus of 97% of climate scientists hold responsible for warming the planet.

The main survey question — "In your opinion, do you believe that climate change is occurring?" — did not specify whether the changes were due to man-made or natural causes, according to Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research.

Hoeppe said that about 60% of people say the climate is changing due to man-made causes.

The results of the survey are based on 1,008 adults surveyed Oct. 9-12 by independent pollsters from ORC International, a market research agency.

The survey found that 71% of respondents believed greater use of alternative energy sources, such as solar or wind power, would be the most effective in the battle against climate change.

"These results are important and compelling," said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a group that mobilizes business leadership on climate-change issues. Ceres was not involved in the survey.

Other survey findings:

— Americans in the West (86%) were most confident that climate change is occurring, followed by the Northeast and South (84%), and Midwest (78%).

— 63% are concerned about changes in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.

— Americans are less concerned about climate change (14%) than global political instability (31%), an economic crisis (27%) or a pandemic (22%).

Other recent surveys also suggest some hesitance about attributing climate change to weather: Only 35% of U.S. citizens believed global warming was the main cause of the abnormally high temperatures during the winter of 2012, according to a paper led by Michigan State University sociologist Aaron McCright published in the journal Nature Climate Change last week.

Last month, a Pew survey reported that 48% of Americans rated global climate change as a major threat, less than concerns about the Islamic State militant group (67%), Iran's nuclear program (59%) and North Korea's nuclear program (57%).

In a Pew international survey of 39 countries last year, Americans were among the least concerned about climate change threatening their country.

Contributing: The Associated Press