Lignite power plant with large cloud of smoke

Czechs Worry About Pollution, While Fear of Nuclear Power Drops

The poll examined public attitudes towards environmental issues and other global phenomena related to human activity. Credit: Freepik.

Prague, Oct 31 (CTK) – Czechs consider pollution of oceans, farmland, drinking water and air to be the most serious global problems, according to a survey released by the CVVM agency yesterday. The same poll found that Czechs consider the operation of nuclear power plants as the least pressing global problem. 

The poll examined public attitudes towards environmental issues and other global phenomena related to human activity.

The most pressing global problem in the eyes of Czechs is ocean pollution. 93% of respondents rated this issue as very or quite serious, of whom two-thirds rated it as very serious.

Concerns about agricultural land pollution follow by 1 percentage point, and 91% of respondents said they considered drinking water and air pollution to be quite or very serious problems.

Nine out of ten respondents identified waste accumulation as very or quite serious. Only slightly fewer respondents considered the lack of drinking water and the loss of rainforests to be serious problems (both 89%). One percentage point lower was the proportion of those who considered the loss of plant and animal species and the infiltration of harmful substances into the food chain to be serious.

The depletion of raw materials is perceived as a very or quite serious problem by 84% of Czechs. Just under 80% think the same about global warming and three-quarters about overpopulation.

Czechs are slightly less critical of the cultivation of genetically modified food. 38% of respondents consider it a very serious problem and another 31% perceive it as quite serious.

Concerns about the operation of nuclear power plants are much less common compared to all the other phenomena, with 39% of Czechs considering it a very or quite serious problem, the CVVM poll found.

Compared to a similar survey from 2021, assessment of farmland pollution as a serious problem has increased by 6 percentage points. The proportion of people who consider ocean pollution, species loss and the cultivation of genetically modified food to be very or quite serious also increased by 5 points.

On the contrary, the severity rating declined for the operation of nuclear power plants. The proportion of respondents viewing it as a very or quite serious problem has decreased by 16 percentage points.

The CVVM conducted its latest survey on 985 respondents from July 28 to September 25.

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