SALT LAKE CITY -- Here's an inconvenient truth for some conservatives: polling data shows most Utahns believe global warming is real and probably caused by humans.

Despite a normally conservative bent, 69 percent of Utahns surveyed said they believe the Earth is getting hotter, according to a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll published in the newspaper's Saturday edition.

Global warming naysayers made up just 25 percent of respondents.

Of those that believe, 84 percent said humans are either causing or increasing global warming.

The June 26-28 poll of 410 Utahns statewide was conducted by Dan Jones & Associates of Salt Lake City. The poll has an error margin of 5 percent.

Poll participants also gave strong support -- 74 percent -- to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's decision in May to join with five other states in the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative. The compact sets goals for reducing emissions. The poll found just 13 percent of respondents opposed the initiative.

Drawing participants along political lines, 87 percent of Democrats polled said they believed in the global warming phenomenon. Among Republicans, 56 percent said they believe.

In spite of those beliefs, just 43 percent of respondents said the problem is a significant issue.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B6.