Poll shows giant gap between what public, scientists think

WASHINGTON – The American public and U.S. scientists are light-years apart on science issues.

And 98 percent of surveyed scientists say it’s a problem that we don’t know what they are talking about.

Matching polls of both the general public and the country’s largest general science organization show that scientists are far less worried about genetically modified food, pesticide use, and nuclear power than is the general public.

The poll by the Pew Research Center also showed members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science were more certain that global warming is caused by man; that evolution is real; and that overpopulation is a danger.

In eight of 13 science-oriented issues, there was a 20 percentage point or larger gap separating public and scientists’ opinions.

This story was originally published January 29, 2015 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Poll shows giant gap between what public, scientists think."