The vast majority of Americans believe climate change is a cause for concern, yet few list it as a top environmental concern. Those are the results of a study by a professor at Cambridge in the U.K., who surveyed American and European understanding of and attitudes about climate change.

The researcher, David Reiner, found that Americans had as much basic understanding of the carbon cycle as people in Sweden, the U.K., and Japan – but we’re talking about really basic knowledge. According to Reiner’s study, which is published on the web site Environmental Science and Technology Online, 80% of people in all four countries understand “that trees can capture CO2 and that cars and power plants emit it.”

But while residents of Britain and Sweden listed climate change as one of the most pressing environmental issues, people in the U.S. were much more likely to be concerned about water pollution, toxic waste, and loss of ecosystems. (Though clearly, ecosystem destruction and water issues are both tied to climate change.)

The study also found that Americans were more willing than their foreign counterparts to favor costly solutions to climate change – an interesting finding that shows we may be more ready than the government believes to take serious steps toward tackling the problem.

Image credit: National Weather Service