The divide mirrors “other partisan differences in attitudes around science we have been tracking for years,” the Pew report says. “In particular, partisan differences in trust in scientists and the value of science for society are far wider than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s part of a larger trend toward the politicization of science,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, citing issues such as vaccines and climate change. This month, he also withdrew the U.S. from 66 other international organizations and treaties , including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, from which the Paris agreement stems. “Data and observations are essential to our efforts to confront climate change and air quality challenges, and these challenges don’t know borders,” said Florian Pappenberger, director-general of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 15, 2026 19:42 UTC