Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,146) conducted from November 6–14, 2025, this report describes Americans’Throughout this report, we use the term “Americans” to refer to adults (18+) who reside in the United States (the 50 states plus the District of Columbia). beliefs and attitudes about global warming. Among the key findings in this report:
Global Warming Beliefs
- Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 5 to 1 (72% versus 13%).
- By a 2 to 1 margin, more Americans think global warming is mostly human-caused (58%) than mostly caused by natural changes in the environment (29%).
- By more than a 2 to 1 margin, Americans are more likely to understand that most scientists think global warming is happening (57%) than to (erroneously) believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether it is happening (23%).
Emotional Responses to Global Warming
- 64% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes 29% who say they are “very worried.”
- 61% of Americans underestimate the proportion of Americans who are worried about global warming, while 7% overestimate it, and 24% “don’t know enough to say.” Only 8% correctly estimate the approximate percentage of Americans who are worried about global warming.
- Many Americans say they feel the following emotions about global warming: interested (57%), sad (48%), afraid (45%), angry (42%), hopeless (40%), or hopeful (37%).
Perceived Risks and Impacts of Global Warming
- 44% of Americans think people in the United States are being harmed by global warming “right now,” and 47% say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.
- Majorities of Americans think global warming will harm plant and animal species (69%), future generations of people (68%), the world’s poor (64%), people in developing countries (62%), people in the United States (60%), and the health of Americans (59%). Many also think people in their community (48%), their family (48%) and they themselves (44%) will be harmed.
- 12% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.
- 64% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 31% who think weather is being affected “a lot.”
- Large majorities of Americans think global warming is affecting many extreme weather events or related impacts in the United States, including extreme heat (74%), wildfires (72%), droughts (72%), hurricanes (68%), air pollution (68%), flooding (68%), water shortages (66%), water pollution (62%), electricity power outages (61%), and diseases carried by mosquitoes and ticks, such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus (58%).
Harm from Local Environmental Problems
- Majorities of Americans say they are worried their local area might be harmed by extreme weather events or related impacts including air pollution (80%), water pollution (79%), electricity power outages (79%), diseases carried by mosquitoes and ticks, such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus (76%), droughts (73%), extreme heat (73%), water shortages (68%), wildfires (65%), and flooding (64%), and 48% are worried about hurricanes.
Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming
- 38% of Americans say they think about global warming “a few times a month” or more often, including 6% who say they think about it every day. In contrast, 27% say they never think about global warming.
- 20% of Americans say they discuss global warming with family and friends “a few times a month” or more often, including only 1% who say they talk about it every day. In contrast, 44% say they never discuss global warming with family and friends.
- 40% of Americans say “most” or “all” of their friends share their views on global warming.
- 38% of Americans think it is at least “moderately” important to their family and friends that they take action to reduce global warming (an injunctive norm), and 34% say their family and friends make at least “a moderate amount of effort” to reduce global warming (a descriptive norm).
- 39% of Americans say they hear about global warming in the media about once a month or more frequently. Fewer say they hear about global warming on social media once a month or more often (23%) or that they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more frequently (14%).
- 59% of Americans say the issue of global warming is “extremely,” “very,” or “somewhat” important to them personally, while 41% say it is “not too” or “not at all” personally important.
- 59% of Americans feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.
- 31% of Americans say they have rewarded companies that are taking steps to reduce global warming by buying their products at least “once” in the past 12 months, and 34% say that over the next 12 months they intend to buy the products of such companies more frequently than they do now. Similarly, 25% of Americans say they have punished companies that are opposing steps to reduce global warming by not buying their products at least “once” in the past 12 months, and 34% would like to do so more frequently over the next 12 months.