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How do your views on climate change compare to others in your area? Take this quiz and find out
About two-thirds of Americans say they are worried about climate change. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support funding research into renewable energy, and 3 out of 4 support regulating carbon emissions. More than 60% believe Congress should do more to address climate change, according to data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Even in Jack County, Texas, where Donald Trump received 90% of the vote in 2020, 58% support regulating carbon emissions. That’s the lowest of any U.S. county.
Still, climate change remains a deeply polarizing issue within Congress and on the campaign trail.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which the White House called “the most significant climate action in U.S. history,” provided nearly $400 billion for climate solutions. It passed Congress strictly along party lines, with no Republicans voting in favor.
In 2023, Democrats voted for pro-environmental legislation more than 90% of the time, while Republicans voted for pro-environmental legislation less than 5% of the time, according to voting data collected by the League of Conservation Voters.
“We see pretty much across the board, at all levels of government, that government officials dramatically underestimate the level of support from their own constituents,” Tony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, told CBS News.
Answer the questions below — which are a selection of the same questions asked by the Yale program’s survey to create their Climate Opinion Maps — to see how your beliefs about climate change compare to others in your area and the nation.
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Harris pitching economic plans in Pittsburgh after Trump’s Savannah remarks
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Meet Pesto the Penguin, Australia’s nearly 50-pound baby penguin capturing hearts worldwide with its hefty fluff
An aquarium in Australia is now home to the biggest baby penguin it has ever seen. Pesto, a 9-month-old king penguin, has weighed in at just under 50 pounds — more than the weight of both his parents combined.
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium has been sharing Pesto’s journey since he hatched on Jan. 30. It didn’t take long for the fluffy baby animal to shock aquarium employees, but also win over their hearts. By April 24, when Pesto was just 3 months old, he already weighed 9.1 kilograms, about 20 pounds. According to the Associated Press, his foster parents Hudson and Tango weigh 11 kg, about 24 pounds, each.
“He eclipses them now, which also makes him look comically large,” Melbourne aquarist Jacinta Early told CBS News’ partner BBC.
By early September, the aquarium said Pesto weighed in at just over 46 pounds, and by the end of the month, the AP said Pesto had reached 49 pounds.
The aquarium says on its website that many factors contribute to Pesto’s “impressive weight.”
“Firstly, his biological dad, Blake, is our biggest and oldest penguin,” the aquarium says on its website. “Secondly, he’s had amazing parents raising him! So, the combination of good genes and good parents explains his current weight, but he will lose a lot of this when he fledges (develops his adult feathers).”
His “very healthy appetite” is also a factor, Early told the BBC. Pesto will eat up to 30 fish that are hand-fed to him ever day.
King penguins are the second-largest penguin species in the world, according to the American Bird Conservancy, and will typically fledge when they’re 14 to 16 months old. While male penguins are usually slightly larger than females, the Australian Antarctic Program says that the average penguin size is far below Pesto’s current size, with peak weights ranging between 10 and 15 kg — 22 to 33 pounds — during courting periods.
“If I poked him, my entire finger would completely [disappear] deep in his feathers,” Early said. “When he does start to fledge, he’ll lose a lot of that baby fluff, and he’ll also lose much of that weight, so he’ll slim down nice and sleek.”
Keepers at the aquarium told the Associated Press they expect him to end up at around 33 pounds after he loses “that really adorable baby fluff.”
Videos the aquarium has posted of Pesto have taken the internet by storm.
Even Katy Perry has joined in on the love for Pesto. In one TikTok that’s racked up more than 4 million views, aquarium staff members are seen dancing with Pesto to one of Perry’s songs. Perry responded, saying she “will come by and get a blessing” before her expected performance at the Australian Football League’s grand final.
“Our chonky King workin’ it,” the aquarium says in another video of the massive baby penguin walking behind one of the adult birds in the enclosure — with a strut that can only be described as a seemingly difficult waddle.
The Associated Press says that Pesto has been the only king penguin to hatch at the aquarium so far this year and the first since 2022. That year, there were just six hatchlings.
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Eye Opener: Tropical Storm Helene bearing down on Florida
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