Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to the United Nations, “the people’s voice is clear”. The UN believes the results of a survey distributed to gamers playing Angry Birds, Subway Surfers, Sudoku and Words With Friends is a strong mandate for climate action.
UN global climate poll: ‘The people’s voice is clear – they want action’
The biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.
The survey shows people across the world support climate action and gives politicians a clear mandate to take the major action needed, according to the UN organisation that carried out the poll.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) questioned 1.2 million people in 50 countries, many of them young.
While younger people showed the greatest concern, with 69% of those aged 14-18 saying there is a climate emergency, 58% of those over 60 agreed, suggesting there is not a huge generational divide.
…
“The voice of the people is clear – they want action on climate change,” said Cassie Flynn, the UNDP’s strategic adviser on climate change.
…
The poll was distributed via advertisements in video games and puzzles, including Angry Birds, Subway Surfers, Sudoku and Words With Friends, and this particularly helped reach younger people.
The idea came to Flynn when she was on the subway in New York City: “I looked around and everyone was on their phones and most were playing games.”
…
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/27/un-global-climate-poll-peoples-voice-is-clear-they-want-action
I feel sorry that the United Nations appears to be having such difficulty getting people to engage with their climate emergency that they have to resort to such innovative methods.
Perhaps WUWT readers can help out with suggestions of what else the UN could do, to get people to answer their surveys.
How many old people play Angry Birds?
I’m shocked that the results didn’t show that 97.1% of ALL Angry Birds gamers were convinced that AGW is an existential threat to ALL life on this and every other planet.
Two thirds of people and two thirds of responding people are two different things!G Mawer
Survey actually shows that 65% of people that are “Likely to Believe in Climate Catastrophism” also play Angry Birds
How many of the “over 60” group are just filling a nosey question with a FQU response. There are probably all under 20, that is why the results don’t differ.
Most people over 60 have probably no idea what Angry Birds even looks like.
I thought that the Angry Birds were the threat to life on the planet. But since I don’t play the game, perhaps I’ve misunderstood the premise.
You’re thinking of Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”. 😉
Well, I put it on my iPad years ago to fool around on airplane flights. After about two flights, went back to playing iPad chess against that app. Since I win often, never updated the chess app. (Joke in there somewhere for a former tournament level chess player with 5 sets, one tournament and 4 artistic, including a German Schwarzwald Zinnfiguren set on a Florence stone board, and a carved ivory Samurai set from Japan circa 1950 on an exotic african lacewood board).
Rud, your ego never ceases to entertain and amuse me.
Dave, glad my recitation of personal annecdotes never ceases to amuse you.
So I will continue to do so. Enjoy.
My computer beat me at chess.
But I beat it at kick boxing.
(That was a joke).
I beat my computer at box kicking
Rud,
On those many dreary flights in the 1980s, I took to writing poems about social matters. Crossword done, occasional chess, time to write poetry?
SAVE A WHALE!
My life is all in tatters
Nothing else is left that matters
When I get this letter in the daily mail,
Inviting my donation
In return for life salvation-
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
It says there’s nothing to it
Write a cheque, man, you can do it,
Or send us cash in case your credit fails.
You will feel an inner glow
As you watch your money go –
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
My wife has up and left me
For a girl who’s acting friendly
And my youngest boy is heading off to jail,
For spreading L.S.D.
Through the kindergarten free –
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
My teeth are full of caries
And my mind’s off with the fairies,
But coughing up will make it all worthwhile.
They’re locking me inside
And I’m suicide –
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
One daughter needs aborting
And another one is
A motor cycle hippie, out on bail,
Who has suspected rabies
From biting dogs and babies –
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
The rent is overdue,
So is daughter number two,
My overdraft is quite beyond the pale.
I’m threatened with eviction
And criminal conviction.
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
I’m at peace within because
I have found this greenie cause.
Green peace and I together will prevail!
There are better things for money
Than my life of milk and honey –
Save a whale! Save a whale! Save a whale!
Today I got a greeting
Saying that they’d held a meeting
And decided that the way to save the whales
Was to hold a protest talk,
Buy a ship and Robert Hawke –
And the whales? Save the whales? Damn the whales!
I was just scanning, caught a phrase, went back and read it. Not quite poetry, top class humour, keep at it!
Thanks PG,
A victim of not checking the OCR just done on these pages typed in Century font on an IBM golf ball typewriter nearly 40 years ago. Geoff S
Geoff, I’m not a musician, but you might be able to sing this to the tune “Orinoco Flows” by Enya…
I’m old and I do. It’s a fun diversion. No one ever asked me for my opinion (they wouldn’t like it). Perhaps ’cause I paid and don’t get ads.
[catastrophic] [anthropogenic] climate cooling… warming… change, undeniable, unfalsifiable. The fractional evolutionary (i.e. chaotic) change is well within the normal seasons, even decadal range, so the prophecy must be true.
That said, angry birds? Privileged Green. Save a bird, whack a wind turbine. Clear the Green Blight. Donate to World Walrus Foundation.
Save a “burden”, spare the child, whose carbon remains have been either sequestered or reduced, reused, recycled for social and medical progress. Where’s the empathy?
In their refusal to reopen schools, leftists have betrayed how much they really care about “the children”. To them, they are useful pawns and common fodder.
Funny to see Trotskyite icon Dr. Fauxi vs the Stalinist NEA.
Eric, don’t be so yesterday. People playing Angry Birds etc represent the future of the planet. As much as you may hate it, their voices should be heard, not yours. Ask the United Nations, that progressive organization, if you have any doubts. They are so far ahead in the future where a gainful employment is a badge of shame ..
George, sadly you are correct & as the UN is the trading name for ‘The Flat Earth Society’ ( see their emblem in the picture ), I recon we are stuffed.
Gglad I will miss the worst of the collapse. The woke will wake up when it’s too late !
Maybe those WHO investigators in China can report on coal plants under construction.
Why? China already has the type of government they desire.
UNhinged
As John Ridgway points out here
https://cliscep.com/2021/01/27/minecraft-mindcraft/
by aiming at gamers, and ones who download free versions with ads at that, the survey is picking up precisely the age and social brackets who think what they’re told to think.
And a self-selecting population of respondents. And how many did respond? And what are the demographics of the population polled in this “global” survey?
Wish I’s read your comment, before posting mt own comment on pretty much the same subject
Believing something is so, does not make it so.
~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson~
We are going to be hearing so much over-the-top alarmist climate change rhetoric over the coming days. It’s already ridiculous and I’m sure it’s going to get worse.
I heard John Kerry today talking about how the latest hurricane did much more monetary damage than past hurricanes and he attributed this to human-caused climate change.
He didn’t mention that the area hit by the hurricane had increased in population and infrastructure so it is not a surprise that there is more monetary damage today than yesterday, and that has nothing to do with the climate.
We are going to see all these tired, debunked claims rolled out again and again and again.
All the while, there is no evidence CO2 is a problem for humanity, so all these scary stories don’t apply to our CO2 reality.
CO2 is a benign gas, essential for life on Earth.
What I find truly remarkable is that anyone would accept such a silly survey as meaningful. It could be entirely made up or the real results completely skewed. Who knows what the “subjects” were asked? The entire thing is highly suspect, right out of the gate? We already saw how the 1st 97% “consensus” survey (Zimmerman/Doran) was skewed simply by how the questions were asked. Turns out that survey consisted of only 79 subjects.
I can see the question now.
Millions of people are dying because of climate change. Should the governments of the world do something to stop climate change? Select – Yes – Probably – Do it now
You’ve got the idea. Lesson: when asking open questions on a survey, be sure you already know the answers you want. Leading questions are always the best.
Also – Simultaneously conduct 10 different “loaded question” surveys aimed at different demographics.
Then publish only the one that most agrees with your preconceived idiocy.
How To Lie With Statistics 101
There … you’ve got it! You’re well into the spirit of the thing. Using selective “meta-analysis” is also an excellent means to produce impressive sounding nonsense.
Vital to ignore/delete the previous UN survey of 10M people that found climate change came last of 16 life priorities, well behind internet and mobile phone access at 15th.
Not far off MarkW. 😉 I never click a Guardian article for obvious reasons, so here are the (leading) questions used in this rather desperate and farcical survey. Big reset folks.
1. Do you think climate change is a global emergency?
a. Yes
b. No
2. If yes, what should the world do about it?
a. Do everything necessary, urgently
b. Act slowly while we learn more about what to do
c. The world is already doing enough
d. Do nothing
3. Energy: To address the climate crisis, what should your country do about energy?
a. Use solar, wind and renewable power
b. Waste less energy in homes, buildings, and factories
c. Stop burning fuels that pollute
d. None of the above
4. Economy: To address the climate crisis, what should governments do about the economy?
a. Invest more money in green businesses and jobs
b. Require more information on how products are made
c. Make companies pay for their pollution
d. None of the above
5. Transportation: To address the climate crisis, how should your country improve transport?
a. Use more clean electric cars and buses, or bicycles
b. Transport good on planes, ships, trains and trucks that run on clean energy c. Improve the design of cities and rural communities
d. None of the above
6. Farms and food: To address the climate crisis, what should governments do about farms and food?
a. Use climate-friendly farming techniques
b. Reduce food waste
c. Promote plant-based diets
d. None of the above
7. Protecting People: How can your country better protect people from extreme storms, flooding, droughts, forest fires, and other climate impacts?
a. Install more early warning systems for disasters
b. Provide good and affordable insurance
c. Build infrastructure and conserve nature to protect lives and livelihoods
d. None of the above
8. Nature: To address the climate crisis, what do you think your country should do about nature?
a. Conserve forests and land
b. Keep the ocean and waterways healthy
c. Support local communities, indigenous peoples, and women that are environmental stewards
d. None of the above
It’s SO warped it’s hard to know where to start with this pigs ear of a survey.
I designed surveys for a living. This one is just plain awful. 1.2 million respondents does not make it or any of its results meaningful. An perfect example of GIGO.
And Zimmerman/Doran only asked if temperatures had warmed over the last 100 years and if the respodent though human activity had a ‘significant’ role in climate change. No definition of what ‘significant’ meant. In other words, such broad generalities that anyone might answer ‘yes’.
A meaningless survey.
Also failed to ask the crucial third question, ie has whatever warming has occurred, and other effects of more plant food in the air, been beneficial or negative?
The rule is; nothing about anthropogenic “climate change” can be deemed “beneficial”. It is well understood that all natural climate change ended when man discovered the benefits of fossil fuels.
Note: plants are very selective and prefer not to dine on anthropogenic CO2 … bletch.
You guessed it. Notice the context is never supplied with the announcements:
What amazes me how many people accepted the 97% number as though it was written in stone somewhere … “gosh it must be true, look how many other studies concur”. John Cook of ‘skepticalscience.com’, in Cook et al (2013), even included a .1% (97.1%) to imply extra special accuracy. Legates et al (2013) proved it should really have been 99.7% non-consensus. 🙂
The “97 percent” lie is a case where if a lie is repeated long enough, it becomes the “truth”.
Propaganda 101
The Western Democracies have a finely honed, leftwing propaganda machine, the Leftwing Media, and they have been spreading this 97 percent lie for years as a means of promoting the Human-caused Climate Change scam, which is in turn, a means for the radical Left to impose authoritarian socialism on Western Democratic societies.
abc aus ran that story
WITHOUT saying how theyd got the info
angrybirds huh?
yeah quite a few abc presenters play that too..they brag,
why the hell anyone with more than a working brain cell does that?
sorry but playing mindless games on a phone or screen, really puzzles me, theres a damn sight more stuff you could do of some use surely?
even just sit and look around, watch real birds, smile at passersby talk to the person at the bus stop etc
The UN has gold fever in a bad way.
It’s the lust for new revenue for them and their member country advocates that will not listen, learn, or even wait for a global pandemic. They will get their population control and lower emissions in the process. Pathetic.
Not so much gold fever as Power fever.
Fluffy White cat optional.
I’d suggest they just go practice procreating with themselves.
Well, many people do their most creative thinking while sitting on the porcelin throne…
And you know what is produced from that “creative” thinking
FLUSH IT !!
What do these angry birds hope will happen to the climate once their actions have been implemented?
They’re angry because of all the wind turbines.
The reality is that, based on the paleoclimate record and the work done with models, the climate change we are experiencing today is caused by the sun and the oceans over which mankind has no control. Despite the hype, there is no real evidence that CO2 has any effect on climate and there is plenty of scientific rationale to support the conclusion that the climate sensitivity of CO2 is zero. So reducing CO2 emissions will have no effect on global climate. But even if we could somehow stop the Earth’s climate from changing, extreme weather events and sea level rise would continue unabated because they are part of the current climate. So there is nothing to be gained. We do not even know what the optimum climate actually is, let alone how to achieve it. They should ask those same people for donations to fight climate change and see what the average donation is. They should also ask the video gamers to stop playing video games and to live as low an energy life as possible in the name of fighting climate change even though such actions will only be symbolic and will have no actual effect on global climate. Those that believe that the use of fossil fuels is bad should stop making use of any goods or services that involves the use of fossil fuels including the transportation of food, clothing, building materials, and other goods that involve the use of fossil fuels. The construction and installation of solar energy systems, wind energy systems, and hydroelectric energy systems all have made use of fossil fuels so do not make use of them. Do not set foot on any prepared surfaces such as roads, sidewalks, and floors or go in most buildings because their constriction all made us of fossil fuels. See how many people will actually take such actions knowing that their efforts will most likely have no effect on global climate.
Surely to convert people you need to answer their question not to ridicule them. The more facile a question is the easier it hold be to provide sensible answer. My simple question is why do they use weather station data as it is from a set of sites specifically chosen to be unsuitable for climate studies as it is above an evaporation cooled surface with a highly variable error of up to ten degrees for a change of one degree. A site specifically chosen to be representative of agricultural land not the area average temperature?
Well shucks I guess Chicken Little is an angry bird and Mario has a profitable sideline putting up solar panels and heat pumps. Maybe if they put it out on Porno films we might have had a better result
Right so that’s got to be legit hasn’t It? It’s not like people playing these games will just hit the first button they come to so they can get back to playing their game is it?
Look on the other side, 31 to 42% of those polled thought the Climate Crisis was an invalid concept.
When asked in context against the many, many other issues and social problems faced by modern humans today; sometimes the list doesn’t even include “climate change” and almost invariably it falls at the bottom of the list.
How would “the people” respond to adopting an energy plan that would only allow them to play Angry Birds when the sun is shining or when the wind is blowing?
Ok
Survey was:
A. conducted in 17 languages, but no mandarin, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian,…
B. It does not appear to have involved Chinese citizens.
C. Only 1.22 million survey results from 50 million requests.
D. I can not find actual country breakdown. I think this will expose that the survey was biased to a few countries.
E. Only two key questions
1. Do you think climate change is a global emergency?
a. Yes b. No
2. If yes, what should the world do about it?
a. Do everything necessary, urgently
b. Act slowly while we learn more about what to do c. The world is already doing enough
d. Do nothing
64% voted 1a
59% voted 2a
So only .64x.59=.38 or 38% of 2.4% of angry bird players thought we should take immediate action.
From what I heard it was heavily biased to young zombies educated by older zombies.
I posted this above, but I believe it’s relevant here.
When asked in context against the many, many other issues and social problems faced by modern humans today; sometimes the list doesn’t even include “climate change” and almost invariably it falls at the bottom of the list.
They could pay people based on how they vote.
It’s worked for the Democrats for years.
I knew it was going to get crazy after Biden stole the election.
I never imagined this crazy, this fast. Is going to backfire on Dems bigly. And not just on climate issues. DC statehood bill again re-introduced in Senate today. There is just one little problem—it is plainly unconstitutional per A1§8.17. A4 Congress admits new states does not over-ride it for several separate black and white constitutional reasons.
It only backfires should there yet again be free and fair elections. House and Senate bills One would ensure that that never happens again.
Man, you just can’t make this stuff up …
Yes, it can, and they do, again, and again, and again on diverse issues.
Self-selected surveys. What could possibly go wrong?
The 1st 97% consensus survey starting that entire meme (Doran/Zimmerman) was 100% self selected.
The UN should offer their surveys thru the adult personals section of Craigslist. That’s their demographic.
Mumbles, an excellent idea, should work. The Un could post paper ballot surveys in marijuana shops, then would have a paper trail for audit purposes.
Only polling the brainwashed. Also how many just said that to get rid of the survey annoyance. So they could keep playing.
All this survey proves is that kiddies playing Angry Birds…
…. really don’t have much in the way of functioning thought processes.
Instead of the bird game, go to White House Youtube channel and give it a thumb down – the numbers are hilarious.
Quote:
“”Each of those analyses is enough to make AI-watchers sit up and take notice, but when combined it creates a picture of a grim future rife with ethical concerns, potential misuse of AI, and loss of privacy in the workplace”
Especially note this bit: “potential misuse of AI”
Makes you wonder doesn’t it, is it beyond the bounds that this ‘survey’ was ‘nobbled’, fixed, adjusted, counted by Dominion, programmed by Tesla?
Or should we just stick with the idea and actuality of Artificial Un-intelligence – brought on by an addiction to one’s own Dopamine, as required to (try to) alleviate the stress/depression brought on by the very people who ran this survey.
Good Dopamine release agents being, of course, computer games but also, booze, sugar and cannabis.
In which cases it become Real UnIntelligence
Or should that be UN unintelligence – which we’re all aware of anyway.
ho hum
Nice positive feedback there tho, especially when the Turkeys Voting For Christmas are angry (turkey) birds.
haha
Quote at the top from here
Say again: “Switch it all off”, before it starts doing some Real Serious Damage
The biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.
Nope. The biggest ever opinion poll (over 9 million) on climate change in over 100 countries has found that no one cares:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200801201920/http://data.myworld2015.org/
etc.
Of 15 issues, “action on climate change” ranks dead last by a wide margin. But the U.N. isn’t happy with what real people think because it doesn’t align with the thinking of Western elitists who have appointed themselves the saviors of the planet, if we just
follow their counselobey their diktats. So they manufacture new “polls” to convince us that they’re right and we’re not. Have a look at current U.N. priorities:How much more out of touch with reality can you get? Only number 4 corresponds in any way to what most people want.
“4. Reducing conflict, humanitarian aid”
Now, well, as a child, I learned that the comma replaces the repeated use of “and”, so, you stinkerp, feel we should reduce conflict AND humanitarian aid?
Being in Africa, I cannot tell you how much we want Them to stop corrupting, indebting AND genociding us with Their frigging “humanitarian aid” that is actually interest-bearing loans coupled with odious “good governance” contracts which are actually just “austerity measures” further dehumanising the poor and militarising the police.
At last, some friggin’ honesty, let’s reduce that “humanitarian aid” today still!
“so, you stinkerp, feel we should reduce conflict AND humanitarian aid?”
Try reading for comprehension. I did not say that, suggest it, or even imply it. Those are the declared priorities of the U.N. for 2021, as I said in my comment.
I have a humour gland for sale, out the skull of a libtard fact-checker from TwitFaceGram. May I suggest you talk to your financial advisor about starting a savings fund, I’m afraid it’s quite expensive, it was hardly ever used, virtually brand new! I’ll do a generous discount for cash…
Tell you what, you can have it for free, if you smile just a little bit.
Nothing compared to these angry turds:
https://phzoe.com/2021/01/27/white-house-youtube-dislike-manipulation/
I shall post my kudos to you here, Ms. Phin. Excellent work.
This also helps me to refine my suspect list for just which creatures of the night are responsible for the wildly implausible changes in data that all seem to cluster around 01:00 hours.
The previous hypothesis was that it is vampires (or observational astronomers) trying to take over the world. Now it seems to be more likely that it is the work of role playing geeks, perhaps all unknowingly. Someone should search the dark web for a game called “Cook the Numbers” or suchlike. The makers might have made the mistake of signing their code…
Great work as usual, Zoe. Tony Heller showed how Twitter was shadow banning almost all of his likes and new followers. His UT numbers have been completely corrupted … holding his numbers under 100K.
I heard this report on BBC world service last night. The ”science reporter” actually talked about it as if it was important. I nodded off……
Angry Birds vs Climate models
All just computer GAMES.
So first you screen out high intelligence, high motivation, high performance subjects by target surveying slack jawed eye glazed gamers, then extrapolate the results to national, if not global levels and intone, “The people have spoken”. If that doesn’t speak to the slack jawed eye glazed unintelligence of the survey, I don’t know what does.
I wonder if they’d feel the same way if the “mandate for climate action” involved taking their personal screens away outright? Globally, such things have quite a footprint, y’know!
Or perhaps a mandate on implementing technology blocks such that screens and devices could only be re-charged by wind, hydro, geothermal, nuclear, or solar?
Imagine a convoluted BBC-style television license, complete with random inspections, but on a global scale, and affecting laptops, tablets, phones, etc. Surely the punters would love to vote for this in a survey!
Power-Warden: “Sorry, brother, you can’t re-charge that device except from an approved “green” power point, and not until 0430 tomorrow morning. Bad luck! Try using it less!”
Perhaps all those people in all those countries who spend their time playing video games should reflect on their contribution to CO2 emissions and runaway global warming, stop wasting their time and learn about how they are being manipulated?
Or learn to code.
Wouldn’t that just produce more of that evil CO2?
Maybe if the question, if answered yes, would reduce your footprint by switching off the device for an hour there would have been a more sincere response.
I’m more surprised the results were so low since the algorithms delivering the ads on social media deliberately target people who would already believe in CAGW.
It’s why only a few people who are sceptical would have received the ad.
The survey is trash, manipulation of the highest order.
Angry Birds, Subway Surfers, Sudoku and Words With Friends, and this particularly helped reach younger people.
Wow… Angry Birds? When did that come out? 2012? Subway Surfers I had to look up but seems to date from the same year.
Sudoku? The number puzzle that can be found anywhere and all the cool high school kids are famous for?
Words With Friends? Yup. Can’t walk into an EB Games store without tripping over the merch for that franchise.
These are MOBILE games!
There is a slur with PC gamers; “Mobile Port”. It means the game in question is a basic game with limited game play or depth that has been converted to PC in order to suck dollars out of unsuspecting victims.
This is rubbish, but then again, this is from the UN.
I would like to see the same survey done with the FPS gaming community.
Question One: Is Global Warming a threat to the planet?
2% Yeah I guess
6% No
59% Git Gud Noob
21% Git Gud Noob + teabagging
11% F to pay respects
1% Kick Jay
or the Skyrim modding community
3% Yes
4% No
93% Sorry? I just reinstalled the mod to make all dragons appear as Thomas the Tank Engine. What were you saying?
Yeah, sod this survey.
Setting climate policy is simple when you let Google do it.
Were the investors supporting GameStop included in this survey?
Typically, gamers are hopeless simpletons – enormous wasters of their time and their life’s future.
Why would anyone want to know the opinions of simpletons?
Stated in the above article’s quoted portion: “While younger people showed the greatest concern, with 69% of those aged 14-18 saying there is a climate emergency, 58% of those over 60 agreed, suggesting there is not a huge generational divide.”
Also stated in the above article: “The poll was distributed via advertisements in video games and puzzles, including Angry Birds, Subway Surfers, Sudoku and Words With Friends, and this particularly helped reach younger people.”
So, in total, how many people over age 60 replied to this poll?
There are proper ways to conduct polls to produce meaningful results . . . this was NOT one of them.
All the United Nations does is play games, so it seemed perfectly natural to them to assume that game players were a good representative group for the entire population.
Aren’t percentages meaningless without the whole number of what the percentage is of?
Yes, but then again that would be known as “following the science” of statistical sampling.
Why ever should we do that today?
The people’s vote?
Apparently restricting a vote to only those who can be bother to make it to a polling booth or apply for an absentee vote is not reflective of the public’s will, but this survey, of mostly under 18yo, is a vote.