In Denial on Climate Change

A new study from the University of Maryland on climate change reveals that:

[Seventy-three] percent of respondents worldwide want their government to
place a high priority on climate change. It's worth noting that China and India,
two countries whose governments have thus far adamantly opposed binding
reduction targets for greenhouse gases, had some of the most enthusiastic
publics [94% and 59%, respectively]. In the United States on the other
hand, only 44 percent thought that climate change should be a major priority.
The only other two countries in the 19-country study that couldn't muster a
majority? Iraq and the Palestinian Territories.

There is something strange going on here. Why are Americans so blind to this looming danger?