Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,031) conducted from April 25 – May 4, 2024, 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 happening by a ratio of about 5 to 1 (70% versus 13%).
- 59% of Americans understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, 29% think it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.
- 58% of Americans understand that most scientists think global warming is happening. However, only about one in five (21%) understand how strong the level of consensus among scientists is (i.e., that more than 90% of climate scientists think human-caused global warming is happening).
Perceived Risks and Impacts of Global Warming
- 47% of Americans think people in the United States are being harmed by global warming “right now,” and 50% say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.
- Majorities of Americans think global warming will harm plant and animal species (72%), future generations of people (72%), the world’s poor (69%), people in developing countries (68%), people in the United States (65%), and people in their community (52%). Many also think their family (49%) and they themselves (44%) will be harmed.
- 12% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.
- 66% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 36% who think weather is being affected “a lot.”
- Majorities of Americans think global warming is affecting many environmental problems in the United States, including extreme heat (74%), wildfires (73%), droughts (72%), rising sea levels (70%), air pollution (69%), flooding (68%), hurricanes (68%), water shortages (67%), tornados (65%), reduced snow pack (63%), agricultural pests and diseases (62%), water pollution (61%), and electricity power outages (61%).
- 56% of Americans think extreme weather poses either a “high” (18%) or “moderate” (38%) risk to their community over the next 10 years.
Global Warming, Emotional Responses, and Mental Health
- 64% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes 28% who say they are “very worried.”
- Americans say they feel the following emotions when thinking about global warming: interested (58%), frustrated (49%), hopeful (44%), sad (43%), disgusted (42%), afraid (38%), angry (38%), anxious (36%), outraged (36%), hopeless (31%), or depressed (27%).
- More than one in ten Americans report experiencing at least one symptom of anxiety or depression because of global warming for several or more days in the last two weeks.
How Americans Conceptualize Global Warming
- Americans think global warming is a multifaceted issue, including an environmental (77%), scientific (68%), severe weather (65%), agricultural (65%), economic (60%), health (59%), political (58%), humanitarian (55%), moral (44%), poverty (33%), social justice (29%), national security (29%), and/or religious (9%) issue.
Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming
- 66% of Americans say they “rarely” or “never” discuss global warming with family and friends, while 34% say they do so “occasionally” or “often.”
- 41% 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 36% say their family and friends make at least “a moderate amount of effort” to reduce global warming (a descriptive norm).
- 50% 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 (28%) or that they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more frequently (22%).
- 67% of Americans say the issue of global warming is either “extremely,” “very,” or “somewhat” important to them personally, while 33% say it is either “not too” or “not at all” personally important.
- 62% of Americans say they feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.
- 32% of Americans 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, and 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.
- Americans say that the most important reasons to reduce global warming are to provide a better life for our children and grandchildren (23%), to prevent the destruction of most life on the planet (18%), or to help prevent extreme weather events (10%)
Personal Agency
- 12% of Americans agree with the statement “it’s already too late to do anything about global warming,” while many more (63%) disagree.
- 47% of Americans agree with the statement “the actions of a single individual won’t make any difference in global warming,” while 53% disagree.
- 49% of Americans agree with the statement “new technologies can solve global warming without individuals having to make big changes in their lives,” while 50% disagree.