When it comes to climate change, the Atlantic is looking like a very wide body of water. According to a Eurobarometer study published today in Brussels, more than two Europeans in three see climate change as a very serious problem and almost 80% consider that taking action to combat it can boost the economy and jobs.
The survey, carried out in June, also found that the European public is more concerned about climate change than it was in 2009 - and that climate change remains a greater worry than the economic situation.
Moreover, Europeans are getting more concerned: 68% of those polled considered climate change a very serious problem (up from 64% in 2009), and 89% see it as a "very serious" or "fairly serious" problem. On a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), the seriousness of climate change was ranked at 7.4, against 7.1 in 2009.
A US survey run in May didn't ask the same questions, but found that just 39% of Americans consider themselves to be alarmed or concerned about climate change - down from 51% in November 2008.
European politicians, it would seem, have public opinion firepower on their side in the ongoing battle with US airlines over plans to include them in the EU emissions trading scheme from January 2012.
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