Extreme weather events seem to have accelerated over different parts of the world and more than half of Americans recently surveyed say they’re well aware of the change.

Fifty-eight percent of U.S. residents believe global warming is affecting the country’s weather and a substantial number of people say it has made various extreme weather events “more severe.”

Those are among the findings of the latest joint survey by Yale University’s Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Centre for Climate Change Communication.

“Many Americans believe global warming made recent extreme weather and climatic events ‘more severe,’ specifically: 2012 as the warmest year on record in the United States (50%); the ongoing drought in the Midwest and the Great Plains (49%); Superstorm Sandy (46%); and Superstorm Nemo (42%),” a summary of the research states.

The survey of 1,045 adults conducted in mid-April has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

No official survey has been conducted in New Zealand but possibly a similar sort of figure could be possible here.

 -WeatherWatch