Report · Jul 9, 2026
Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Spring 2026
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
2. Perceived Risks of Global Warming
2.1 Many Americans say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.
Many Americans (46%) agree with the statement “I have personally experienced the effects of global warming,” while about half (53%) disagree.
2.2 Many Americans think people in the U.S. are being harmed “right now” by global warming.
More than four in ten Americans (47%) think people in the U.S. are being harmed by global warming “right now.”
2.3 Many Americans think global warming will harm them, but more think others will be harmed.
A majority of Americans understand that global warming will cause harm. Half or more Americans think global warming will cause either “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” of harm to 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 Americans also think their family (49%), and they themselves (45%) will be harmed.
2.4 About one in eight Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.
Climate change is increasingly causing impacts that could lead people to consider relocating. These include rising sea levels,Hauer, M. E. (2017). Migration induced by sea-level rise could reshape the US population landscape. Nature Climate Change, 7(5), 321-325. doi:10.1038/nclimate3271 floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat. We find that 13% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming, while 77% have not, and 10% are not sure.
