Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,068) conducted from April 17–26, 2026, 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 4 to 1 (68% versus 16%).
- By a 2 to 1 margin, more Americans think global warming is mostly human-caused (59%) than mostly caused by natural changes in the environment (27%).
- By more than a 2 to 1 margin, Americans are more likely to understand that most scientists think global warming is happening (54%) than to (erroneously) believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether it is happening (25%).
Perceived Risks of Global Warming
- 47% of Americans think people in the United States are being harmed by global warming “right now,” and 46% say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.
- Majorities of Americans think global warming will harm plant and animal species (68%), future generations of people (68%), the world’s poor (64%), people in developing countries (62%), people in the United States (58%), the health of Americans (58%), and people in their community (51%). Many also think their family (49%), and they themselves (45%) will be harmed.
- 13% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.
Worry About Global Warming
- 66% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes 29% who say they are “very worried.”
Harm from Extreme Weather Events or Related Impacts
- 59% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 35% who think weather is being affected “a lot.”
- Majorities of Americans say they are worried their local area might be harmed by extreme weather events or related impacts including water pollution (79%), diseases carried by mosquitoes and ticks, such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus (79%), electricity power outages (78%), air pollution (77%), extreme heat (77%), droughts (72%), water shortages (70%), wildfires (63%), and flooding (63%), and 45% are worried about hurricanes.
Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming
- 65% of Americans say the issue of global warming is “extremely,” “very,” or “somewhat” important to them personally, while 35% say it is “not too” or “not at all” personally important.
- 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 (24%) or that they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more frequently (17%). These percentages have trended downward since their all-time highs in 2021 and 2022.
- A majority of Americans are interested in news stories about topics related to global warming, including: how global warming is affecting the cost of living (76%), actions being taken by the U.S. government in response to global warming (75%), the causes of global warming (74%), the impacts of global warming on their local community (74%), the impacts of global warming around the world (74%), actions that are being taken by businesses in response to global warming (74%), the impacts of global warming elsewhere in the United States (73%), actions being taken that make global warming worse (73%), actions being taken in their local community in response to global warming (72%), actions being taken by foreign governments in response to global warming (71%), actions being taken to oppose solutions to global warming (69%), and whether global warming is or is not happening (66%).
- 31% of Americans say they discuss global warming with family and friends “occasionally” (27%) or “often” (4%). In contrast, 69% say they “rarely” (34%) or “never” (35%) discuss it.
- 39% 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 33% say their family and friends make at least “a moderate amount of effort” to reduce global warming (a descriptive norm).
- 44% of Americans say they would like to hear from companies about efforts to reduce global warming “much more often” (24%) or “somewhat more often” (20%).
- 29% 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 26% 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.
- 52% of Americans disagree that “new technologies can solve global warming without individuals having to make big changes in their lives,” while 48% agree.
How Americans Conceptualize Global Warming
- Americans think global warming is a multifaceted issue, including a scientific (69%), agricultural (65%), severe weather (64%), health (61%), economic (60%), political (57%), humanitarian (56%), moral (43%), poverty (35%), social justice (33%), national security (32%), and/or religious (10%) issue.