Report · Jan 27, 2026
Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025
By Anthony Leiserowitz, John Kotcher, Seth Rosenthal, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Teresa Myers, Joshua Ettinger, Julia Fine, Emily Richards, Matthew Goldberg, Jennifer Marlon and Edward Maibach
Filed under: Beliefs & Attitudes, Behaviors & Actions and Climate Impacts
4. Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming
4.1 Most Americans do not think about or discuss global warming frequently.
About four in ten Americans (38%) say they think about global warming either “every day” (6%), “a few times a week” (13%), or “a few times a month” (19%). One in five (20%) say they discuss global warming with family and friends either “every day” (1%), “a few times a week” (5%), or “a few times a month” (15%).
The majority of Americans say they think about global warming only “a few times a year” (36%) or “never” (27%) and a larger majority say they discuss global warming either “a few times a year” (36%) or “never” (44%).
4.2 About six in ten Americans say at least some of their friends share their views on global warming.
About six in ten Americans (61%) say “all” (10%), “most” (30%), or “some” (21%) of their friends share their views on global warming. Fewer say only “a few” (20%), or “none” (19%) of their friends share their views.
4.3 Fewer than half of Americans perceive social norms for taking action on global warming.
Social science research has shown that two types of social norms can have a powerful influence on people’s behavior: injunctive norms (the belief that friends and family expect you to behave in a given way) and descriptive norms (the belief that friends and family are themselves behaving in that way).Schultz, P. W., Nolan, J. M., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., & Griskevicius, V. (2007). The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power of social norms. Psychological Science, 18(5), 429-434. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01917.x
More than one-third of Americans (38%) perceive an injunctive norm, saying it is either “extremely” (3%), “very” (11%), or “moderately” (24%) important to their family and friends that they take action to reduce global warming. Similarly, 34% perceive a descriptive norm, saying their family and friends make either “a great deal of effort” (2%), “a lot of effort” (8%), or “a moderate amount of effort” (23%) to reduce global warming.
4.4 Relatively few Americans hear about global warming in the media at least once a month; even fewer hear about it on social media or hear people they know talking about it.
Relatively few Americans (39%) say they hear about global warming in the media once a month or more often, while 53% say they hear about global warming in the media several times a year or less often.
Additionally, only 23% of Americans say they hear about global warming on social media once a month or more often, while 64% say they do so several times a year or less often, including 33% who say they never hear about global warming on social media. Similarly, only 14% of Americans say they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more often, while 80% say they do so several times a year or less often, including 33% who say they never hear people they know talk about global warming.
4.5 A majority of Americans say the issue of global warming is personally important to them.
A majority of Americans (59%) say the issue of global warming is either “extremely” (12%), “very” (19%), or “somewhat” (29%) important to them personally (refer to data tables, p. 66). This is five percentage points lower than the last time we asked this question in Spring 2025, and the lowest it has been in 10 years.
Fewer Americans (41%; +5 percentage points since Spring 2025) say global warming is either “not too” (18%) or “not at all” (22%) personally important.
4.6 A majority of Americans feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.
A majority of Americans (59%) agree either “strongly” (20%) or “somewhat” (39%) that they feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.
4.7 About three in ten Americans say they have engaged in consumer activism on global warming.
About three in ten Americans (31%) say that at least “once” over the past 12 months, they have rewarded companies that are taking steps to reduce global warming by buying their products. About one-quarter (26%) say that at least “once” over the past 12 months, they have punished companies that are opposing steps to reduce global warming by not buying their products.
4.8 About one in three of Americans intend to engage in consumer activism on global warming more in the next 12 months.
About one in three Americans (34%) say that, over the next 12 months, they would like to punish companies that are opposing steps to reduce global warming by not buying their products more frequently than they are now. The same percentage (34%) say they intend to buy the products of companies that are taking steps to reduce global warming more frequently than they do now.
