In May last year Possum Comitatus featured the annual Lowy Poll. The poll set of global warming questions the Lowy Institute asked — and in some instances, has asked over several years — was most illuminating in terms of tracking public opinion on this issue over the past five years.

Lowy asked the following question four times in five years:

There is a controversy over what the countries of the world, including Australia, should do about the problem of global warming. I’m going to read you three statements. Please tell me which statement comes closest to your own point of view.

Take a look at how the opinion has shifted.

This graph dovetails nicely with today’s set of Essential questions.

In relation to the Opposition’s line on the government’s “backflip” on a promise Prime Minister Gillard made before the 2010 election not to introduce a carbon tax in the next term of parliament, respondents were given a set of statements and asked which was closest to their view.

Fifty nine per cent of respondents picked this line:

The Prime Minister has broken an election promise and should wait until after the next election before introducing a carbon pollution tax.

The climate’s changing rapidly. And we’re not talking about cO2 levels.