Why is there "A Widening Gap" on global warming views?

     First off, I would like to point out that my views about global warming have been formed almost entirely through my education here at the University.  My thoughts have very little if anything to do with the media or my religious and political views.  In my opinion, when it comes to taking a side on climate change, the media, politics, and religion should be left out as much as possible.  We all know the media is often not trustworthy, religious views differ greatly from person to person, and when it comes to politics, as "A Widening Gap" points out, growing polarization between the two parties, coupled with the idea of top-down sorting, can cause political views to skew thoughts on climate change and global warming (political views are much like religious views, in that especially with the older generations, many people believe much the way their parents believe, religious and party affiliation is passed down).  The whole idea of bipartisanship seems great, but is not a realistic expectation on an issue like this.  From the article, and studying other controversial issues, it seems that Democrats and Republicans, whether or not they agree on the problem and solution, will fight and argue against each other, only because they check a different box when asked of their party affiliation.    

     After looking through the article, I believe it is safe to assume that the responses from both parties may be a little off of reality for the typical person, the Republican responses seemingly low for those who believe in climate change and its causes, and maybe a tad high for those Democrats who responded.  Through my personal opinion, I would like to believe that people are leaning towards the response of the Democrat affiliates.  However, if party affiliations were taken out, would the responses be similar?  Or would the response be somewhere in between?

     I thought it was interesting that even with both parties, the percentage of respondents who said that global warming will pose a serious threat to their lifestyle (D-49% R-26%) was significantly lower than those who responded saying that the effects of global warming have already begun (D-76% R-42%).  If I had to guess, the reason for this is that even though many are admitting that there is a problem, few of those want to admit that it is at least partially due to their lifestyle, and that to change the trend, they might have to give up certain aspects of that lifestyle.