FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Growing concern about global warming could determine who Hispanics vote for in the presidential election, a poll released Thursday shows.
Nearly 80 percent of Hispanics consider global warming to be a somewhat serious or very serious problem, up almost 7 percent from a year ago, the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economic Polling Initiative poll found.
A little more than half, 54 percent, said they considered global warming a deciding factor in who they would vote for to be president.
The poll asked 500 Hispanics nationwide to rank the seriousness of global warming and whether it factored into who they would vote for in November's presidential election. The poll did not ask questions about individual candidates.
Florida has 1.8 million Hispanics registered to vote as of February 2016, according to the Department of State.
"I think they are very important," said Monica Escaleras, director of the Business and Economics Polling Initiative. "Hispanics are growing in numbers, so they're going to make an impact in this election."
Hispanics who identified themselves across party lines were concerned about global warming: 85 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of independents surveyed said they thought it was a problem.
Democrats placed more importance on the issue, with 46 percent saying climate change should be a high to very high priority, compared with 27 percent of Republicans.
Fifty-three percent of Democrats said they believed the environment would be worse for the next generation. Only 21 percent of Republicans believed the same.
Escaleras said the change in responses from last year is most likely because of increased awareness and education.
"More people are becoming more aware of all the problems being discussed," she said.
Because of global warming, sea levels could rise 31 inches by 2060, the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact reported last year. The group, consisting of Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, predicted seas to rise up to 46 inches higher by 2075, enough to submerge a large portion of coastline.
The poll was conducted from June 1-30, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.33 percentage points.
