Islamic State tops climate change as concern for rich, for the poor it's reversed

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he barbaric acts and military gains of Islamic State have succeeded in sowing fear in Australia and other wealthy nations, with a new poll showing the extremist group is considered the biggest global threat in all but one advanced economy surveyed.

But poorer nations overwhelmingly rated climate change as the top menace to global security, according to a report from the Pew Global Research Centre.

Pew, a US-based research organisation, interviewed more than 45,000 people in 40 countries for the survey.

The poll, released overnight, found that Australia and nine other countries with advanced economies all ranked Islamic State (IS) as the biggest threat.

Read the Age story - “Rich nations worry about Islamic State; poor fear climate change: Pew survey”.