Traditionally, Evangelicals in America have been one of the most resistant groups to the idea of climate change and global warming. In fact, according to The Guardian,only one in four evangelicals believes that there is consensus in the scientific community regarding climate change.
But Katherine Hayhoe is trying to change that. Hayhoe is an evangelical Christian and a climate scientist, as well as a professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. Her research "focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to evaluate the future impacts of climate change on human society and the natural environment."
Dr Hayhoe frequently lectures to predominantly evangelical schools such as Houghton College in New York and Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas.
During a study done on evangelical crowds before and after one of her lectures, acceptance that global warming is happening was found to have increased for half of the lecture’s attendees. Social scientists have discovered that people are more open to information when it comes from people with whom they share values.