Report · May 19, 2020
Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2020
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Parrish Bergquist, Matthew Ballew, Matthew Goldberg, Abel Gustafson and Xinran Wang
Filed under: Beliefs & Attitudes
3. Emotional Responses to Global Warming
3.1. Two in three Americans are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming.
Two in three Americans (66%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, an increase of 14 percentage points over the past five years (since March 2015). About one in four Americans (26%) are “very worried,” more than double the percentage five years ago (in our March 2015 survey).
3.2. About six in ten Americans are “interested” in global warming.
When asked how strongly they feel various emotions when thinking about global warming, about six in ten Americans say they feel “very” or “moderately” “interested” in it (63%). Four in ten or more say they feel “disgusted” (46%), “hopeful” (45%), “resilient” (41%), “angry” (41%), “outraged” (41%), or “helpless” (40%).
Fewer Americans feel “afraid” (35%), “anxious” (34%), “brave” (32%), “hopeless” (29%), “betrayed” (27%), “confused” (27%), “guilty” (26%), “depressed” (24%), or “panicked” (19%).
