The AC Nielsen "Online Consumer Opinion Survey," conducted last November, covered 25,408 Internet users from 47 countries and territories in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

The survey found that 94 percent of the 503 respondents from the Philippines had heard or read about global warming.

Only 13 percent of the American respondents said they were aware of global warming.

Seventy-six percent of the Filipinos said they thought global warming was "a very serious problem." It was the highest percentage of those who said so in the Asia Pacific region and the fifth in the world after the Brazilians, the French and the Portuguese.

Moreover, half of the Filipinos polled thought human activities were to blame while 4 percent attributed the problem to natural changes in climate.

Forty-six percent pointed to both human activities and natural factors. One percent said they did not know.

Survey before UN report

The survey was conducted before the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that said that man was very likely causing global warming.

The report, which was released last month, said that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases could be blamed for the hotter nights, fewer cold days, killer heat waves, floods and heavy rains, devastating droughts and the increase in the intensity of tropical storms.

Global warming will be unstoppable for centuries to come, said the IPCC.

Gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels like coal, wood and gas for energy are burned.

These gases act like the glass roof of a greenhouse and trap solar heat underneath, thus the term "greenhouse gases."

Farquhar Stirling, ACNielsen managing director for Southeast Asia, said in the report that unprecedented warm winters, prolonged summers, rainstorms at an unexpected time of the year were drawing global attention to climate change like never before.

Very serious problem

On the average, 9 out of every 10 of the world's online population were aware of the issue, and over half (57 percent) considered it "a very serious problem."

"The 2004 Kyoto Protocol made some tentative steps toward controlling the greenhouse gasses that are thought to contribute to global warming, but three key countries -- the United States, the world's biggest economy, and emerging giants China and India -- have yet to ratify the treaty," Stirling said.

"What's worrying is that while there is a high level of awareness among consumers globally, the level of concern toward global warming remains low," he said.

Stirling said that the high awareness levels reflected the increasing media coverage of global warming particularly since the November 2006, Nairobi Climate Change Conference.

The Czechs led the world in awareness of global warming with 99 percent of online consumers saying so, followed by the mainland Chinese, Portuguese, Russians and Thais -- all at 98 percent.

Those least aware were from the United Arab Emirates (16 percent) who said they had never heard of global warming.

Only 11 percent of Malaysians were aware of global warming.

Worldwide, 57 percent of those polled felt that global warming was a very serious problem. Thirty-four percent saw it as "fairly serious."

Low level of concern

"Despite high awareness among global consumers and the majority considering it a serious problem, global warming is not considered a major personal concern in (the) short term," Stirling said.

But global warming has become more than just an environmental issue as businesses become increasingly exposed to risks and potential disruptions due to climate change, he said.

"Judging by the low levels of concern among people surveyed, it remains something too far off for them," he said.

The poll also covered Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania;

Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Vietnam