The Associated Press

MITCHELL - About three-fourths of South Dakotans believe that global warming is somewhat serious or very serious, according to a scientific public opinion poll released by Dakota Wesleyan University.

Volunteers and students interviewed 410 South Dakotans on March 18 and 19. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus

5 percentage points.

Thirty-five percent of respondents said global warming is a very serious problem, and 42 percent said they believe it's a somewhat serious problem, according to the poll. Seventeen percent didn't believe that it's a problem, and 6 percent had no opinion.

The results are nearly identical to a nationwide poll.

The DWU poll indicated 46 percent of the respondents who live west of the Missouri River believe that global warming is a very serious problem, and 30 percent of the East River

respondents said likewise.

Half of Democrats surveyed said global warming is a problem, compared to

20 percent of Republicans viewing it as serious.

The poll is a joint project of the McGovern Center and DWU's math department.