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Map: Where climate change is a big deal (and where it isn’t)

November 6, 2015 at 5:00 a.m. EST

A Pew survey conducted in 40 countries found that a majority of respondents were concerned about the threat of climate change and wanted their governments to be more proactive about mitigating its effects.

The report comes just weeks in advance of a pivotal United Nations summit in Paris, where world leaders will attempt to negotiate a major global pact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Majorities in all 40 nations polled say it is a serious problem, and a global median of 54% consider it a very serious problem," Pew finds. "Moreover, a median of 78 percent support the idea of their country limiting greenhouse gas emissions as part of an international agreement in Paris."

Of course, the worries over climate change aren't felt to the same extent everywhere. As Pew finds, citizens of countries with high per-capital levels of carbon emissions — the United States ranking at the top of that list — are "less intensely concerned about climate change." Americans and Chinese, whose nations are the world's biggest emitters, were surprisingly less concerned than others.

That's in contrast to publics in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where the real effects of climate change are more keenly felt.

Pew also found a discernible divide along ideological divides, with the attitudes of those surveyed in Europe and the United States in alignment with their broader political views.

This was also borne out in a closer look at a handful of major Western economies, where supporters of prominent right-wing political parties were less willing to make major personal changes to their lives to help reduce their impact on the global climate.

A majority around the world believe rich countries should do more to address climate change, though that sentiment was not always shared in some of these rich countries, including the United States.

You can read the full Pew report, which has a wealth of studies and data to explore, here.