Survey: 71 percent of Southwest Florida residents concerned about climate change

A majority of Southwest Florida residents believe that climate change will personally affect their health and homes, and they want the government to do something about it.

Those are the results of the first-ever Southwest Florida Climate Metrics Survey revealed Wednesday morning by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, EcoAmerica, and the Southwest Florida Community Foundation.

In September, they conducted a survey of 401 residents in Southwest Florida to gauge the public's current attitudes about climate change, as part of a national survey of 800 people.

"Sometimes you hear anecdotal stories that people are doubting it's happening or some people think it's real or not real. This is the first thing that sort of objectively quantifies what people's beliefs are around climate change," said Rob Moher, CEO of the Conservancy.

Jennifer Roberts, director of EcoAmerica's Path to Positive Communities program, said the main takeaway from the survey is that 7 in 10 Southwest Florida residents are concerned about climate change.