Climate change 'near top of global worries'

LONDON - The vast majority of people say they are ready to make changes to their standard of living if it will prevent future climate catastrophe, a survey on global threats found on Wednesday.

The survey of more than 8,000 people in eight countries - the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Germany - found that 84 percent of people now consider climate change a "global catastrophic risk".

That puts worry about climate change only slightly behind fears about large-scale environmental damage and the threat of politically motivated violence escalating into war, according to the Global Challenges Foundation, which commissioned the Global Catastrophic Risks 2017 report.