When asked to rate their level of understanding of several important environmental concepts, a higher proportion of European Community adults were willing to classify themselves as having a clear understanding than were Americans. For example, regarding the hole in the ozone layer, 44 percent of European adults, compared to 30 percent of American adults, reported that they had a clear understanding of the problem. Similar patterns were found for the level of understanding of acid rain, air pollution, global warming, and the greenhouse effect.

Looking at the more objective measures of environmental knowledge available for Europe and the United States, a similar pattern was found. A higher percentage of European respondents provided correct responses to most items than did the Americans. Over 30 percent of European adults, for example, knew the location of the most serious thinning of the ozone layer, compared to 17 percent of American adults. Similarly, 81 percent of European adults recognized that the thinning of the ozone layer can cause skin cancer, compared to 73 percent of Americans. The margin of difference between the Europeans and the Americans is not large, but it is consistent across environmental knowledge questions. These differences may provide an opportunity to study more carefully the origins of public interest in public policy issues, the perception of knowledgeability, and the acquisition of relevant scientific and technical information.

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