Climate Change in the American Mind, September 2021
2.1. Seven in ten Americans are worried about global warming.
Seven in ten Americans (70%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, the highest percentage since our surveys began in 2008. Of those, about one in three Americans (35%) are “very worried,” also the highest percentage since 2008.
2.2. About two in three Americans are “interested” in global warming.
When asked how strongly they feel various emotions when thinking about global warming, about two in three Americans (66%) say they feel “very” or “moderately” interested. Additionally, more than half (54%) say they feel disgusted when thinking about global warming, and four in ten or more say they feel angry (47%), outraged (45%), or hopeful (42%).
Table of Contents
2. Emotional Responses to Global Warming
3. Perceived Risks of Global Warming
4. Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming
Citation
Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Rosenthal, S., Kotcher, J., Carman, J., Neyens, L., Marlon, J., Lacroix, K., & Goldberg, M. (2021). Climate Change in the American Mind, March 2021. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Funding Sources
The research was funded by the 11th Hour Project, the Energy Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Grantham Foundation.