A new Gallup Poll suggests Americans are no more concerned about global warming than they were almost two decades ago.

In a telephone survey last month, 37 percent of 1,012 adults interviewed said they worry a “great deal” about global warming. That’s virtually unchanged from 19 years ago, when 35 percent responded the same way.

The findings call into question both the impact of and the interest in the deluge of news media and pop culture coverage of “green” issues in recent years.

“The trend data suggest that despite the growing attention to and emphasis on global warming in recent years, there has been no consistent increase in worry about it since Gallup began asking the question way back in 1989,” a Gallup analysis says.

More Americans claim to understand global warming today than did in previous polls. That figure is up to 80 percent compared to 53 percent in a poll 16 years ago.

Strangely, the percentage of Americans who say global warming “will pose a serious threat to you or your way of life in your lifetime” — 40 percent — is higher than the percentage who say they worry about it a great deal.

The Gallup poll appears to be consistent with a Pew Research Center survey last year that measured American’s political priorities. Among a list of 21 issues, global warming ranked dead last for Republicans. Maybe that’s to be expected, but less than half of Democrats surveyed said global warming was a top priority. For Democrats, global warming was fifth from the bottom, tied with illegal immigration and just a few points ahead of morality.

Below the jump, see the Gallup chart on global warming attitudes over time.

Continued: Click “Read More”