Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, December 2022

Report Summary

his report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. Interview dates: December 2 – 12, 2022. Interviews: 1,085 adults (18+). Average margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

 

Climate Change in the American Mind is conducted jointly by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.

Principal Investigators:

Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication

Seth Rosenthal, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

John Kotcher, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication

Executive Summary

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,085) conducted from December 2 – 12, 2022, this report describes Americans’ beliefs and attitudes about global warming. We previously reported findings from this survey on public support for U.S. climate policy.

Among the key findings of this report:

Global Warming Beliefs

• Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not happening by a ratio of more than 4 to 1 (70% versus 16%).
• Those who are “very” or “extremely” sure global warming is happening outnumber those who are “very” or “extremely” sure it is not happening by about 5 to 1 (51% versus 10%).
• More than half of Americans (58%) understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. About one in four (27%) think it is due mostly to natural changes in the environment.
• A majority of Americans (58%) understand that most scientists think global warming is happening.

Perceived Risks of Global Warming

• About half of Americans (49%) think people in the United States are being harmed by global warming “right now,” and nearly as many (47%) say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.
• 44% of Americans think they will be harmed by global warming, 48% think their family will be harmed, and half (50%) think people in their community will be harmed. Majorities of Americans think global warming will harm people in the U.S. (62%), people in developing countries (66%), the world’s poor (66%), future generations of people (68%), and plant and animal species (70%).
• One in ten Americans (10%) have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.

Global Warming, Emotional Responses, and Mental Health

• A majority of Americans (64%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes about one in four (27%) who say they are “very worried.”
• More than half of Americans (58%) say they feel “interested” when thinking about global warming. Four in ten or more say they feel “frustrated” (48%), “hopeful” (41%), “sad” (40%), or “disgusted” (40%). Fewer say they feel “angry” (35%), “afraid” (34%), “outraged” (34%), “anxious” (32%), “hopeless” (29%), or “depressed” (23%).
• About one in ten Americans report experiencing symptoms of anxiety because of global warming for several or more days out of the last two weeks. Almost as many report experiencing symptoms of depression because of global warming.
• About one in four Americans (27%) say they try not to think about global warming, and 15% say they try to avoid information about global warming. About one in ten say they often have trouble stopping themselves from consuming bad news about global warming (11%) or seek social or emotional support to help manage their concerns about global warming (10%).
• Eight percent of Americans say they are discussing their feelings about global warming with a counselor or therapist or would be interested in doing so.

Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming

• Most Americans (63%) say they “rarely” or “never” discuss global warming with family and friends, while 37% say they do so “occasionally” or “often.”
• More than half of Americans (57%) say they hear about global warming in the media about once a month or more frequently. Fewer (25%) say they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more frequently.
• Two in three Americans (67%) 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.
• Fewer than half of Americans think their friends and family take action on global warming or that their friends and family expect them to take action: 36% say their family and friends make at least “a moderate amount of effort” to reduce global warming (a descriptive norm) while 41% think it is at least “moderately” important to their family and friends that they take action (an injunctive norm).
• A majority of Americans (63%) say they feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.
• About three in ten Americans (29%) say they look for information about solutions to global warming several times a year or more often.

Fatalism

• A majority of Americans (61%) disagree with the statement “it’s already too late to do anything about global warming,” while only 14% agree.

Impacts of Global Warming

Majorities of Americans are worried about harm to their local area from water pollution (79%), electricity power outages (79%), air pollution (78%), droughts (75%), extreme heat (74%), agricultural pests and diseases (74%), water shortages (72%), flooding (65%), wildfires (62%), and tornados (61%). About half are worried about rising sea levels (52%), reduced snow pack (49%), and hurricanes (48%).

A majority of Americans (60%) think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 31% 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, droughts, and wildfires (all 70%), water shortages (68%), rising sea levels (67%), flooding (66%), air pollution (64%), hurricanes (64%), tornados (62%), reduced snow pack (61%), agricultural pests and diseases (60%), water pollution (58%), and electricity power outages (57%).

A majority of Americans (56%) think extreme weather poses either a “high” (17%) or “moderate” (38%) risk to their community over the next 10 years.

1. Global Warming Beliefs

1.1. Most Americans think global warming is happening.

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not happening by a ratio of more than 4 to 1.

Seven in ten Americans (70%) think global warming is happening. By contrast, only 16% of Americans think global warming is not happening. Fourteen percent say they don’t know if global warming is happening (see data tables, p. 32).

1.2. When Americans who “don’t know” if global warming is happening are asked for their best guess, more say “yes” than “no.”

Survey respondents who say they “don’t know” whether global warming is happening in response to the question in Section 1.1 (see data tables, p. 32) are then asked to provide their best guess as to whether or not global warming is happening. Over time, this follow-up question has produced a relatively stable pattern in which more of these Americans “lean” toward “yes” than “no” (see data tables, p. 33).

When the “leaners,” as determined by this follow-up question, are added to the totals of those who responded “yes” or “no” to the question in Section 1.1, we find that a total of 79% of Americans think global warming is happening or lean toward that position, while 21% think global warming is not happening or lean toward that position.

1.3. About half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is happening. Very few are as sure it isn’t happening.

About half of Americans (51%) are either “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is happening. Far fewer (10%) are “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is not happening.

1.4. A majority of Americans think global warming is mostly human-caused.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment report, written and reviewed by thousands of climate experts worldwide, states: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.¹

More than half of Americans (58%) understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, about one in four (27%) think it is due mostly to natural changes in the environment.

1.5. A majority of Americans understand that most scientists think global warming is happening.

A review by Cook and colleagues² found that six independent, peer-reviewed studies examining the scientific consensus about global warming have concluded that between 90% and 100% of climate scientists are convinced human-caused global warming is happening. A more recent study found that as many as 98% of climate scientists are convinced global warming is happening and human-caused.³

A majority of Americans (58%) understand that most scientists think global warming is happening. By contrast, one in five Americans (20%) think there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening. Very few Americans (3%) believe that most scientists think global warming is not happening.

_¹ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2021): Summary for Policymakers. In Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S. L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M. I., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J. B. R., Maycock, T. K., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R., & Zhou, B. (eds.), Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.

² Cook, J., Oreskes, N., Doran, P. T., Anderegg, W. R. I., Verheggen, B., Maibach, E. W., Carlton, J. S., Lewandowsky, S., Skuce, A. G., Green, S. A., Nuccitelli, D., Jacobs, P., Richardson, M., Winkler, B., Painting, R., & Rice., K. (2016). Consensus on consensus: A synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, 11(4). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/048002

³ Myers, K. F., Doran, P. T., Cook, J., Kotcher, J. E., & Myers, T. A. (2021). Consensus revisited: Quantifying scientific agreement on climate change and climate expertise among Earth scientists 10 years later. Environmental Research Letters, 16(10). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac2774

2. Perceived Risks of Global Warming

2.1. Many Americans say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming.

Many Americans (47%) agree with the statement “I have personally experienced the effects of global warming,” while 53% disagree.

2.2. About half of Americans think people in the U.S. are being harmed “right now” by global warming.

About half of Americans (49%) 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. Americans are most likely to think plant and animal species (70%), future generations of people (68%) the world’s poor and people in developing countries (both 66%), and people in the U.S. (62%) will be harmed either “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” by global warming. Fewer think people in their community (50%), their family (48%), or they themselves (44%) will be harmed.

2.4. One in ten Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.

Research indicates1 that an increasing number of people in the United States may be considering moving away from areas particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. We find that 10% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming, while 82% have not, and 8% are not sure.

¹Hauer, 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

3. Global Warming, Emotional Responses, and Mental Health

3.1. A majority of Americans are worried about global warming.

A majority of Americans (64%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes 27% of Americans who are “very worried” about global warming.

3.2. A majority of Americans are “interested” in global warming.

When asked how strongly they feel various emotions when thinking about global warming, more than half of Americans (58%) say they feel “very” or “moderately” interested. Additionally, four in ten or more say they feel frustrated (48%), hopeful (41%), sad (40%), or disgusted (40%). Fewer say they feel angry (35%), afraid (34%), outraged (34%), anxious (32%), hopeless (29%), or depressed (23%).

3.3. A small but notable percentage of Americans are experiencing psychological distress because of global warming.

To assess anxiety and depression symptoms arising from people’s concerns about global warming, we adapted previously validated brief screening instruments for general anxiety disorder (the GAD-2)¹ and depression (the PHQ-2).²

We found that about one in ten Americans report experiencing symptoms of anxiety because of global warming for at least “several days” out of the last two weeks, including “feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge because of global warming” (11%) or “not being able to stop or control worrying about global warming” (9%). Similar percentages report experiencing symptoms of depression because of global warming for at least “several days” out of the last two weeks, including “feeling down, depressed, or hopeless because of global warming” (9%) or having “little interest or pleasure in doing things because of global warming” (7%).

3.4. Coping with global warming.

A small but notable percentage of Americans use avoidance strategies to help them cope with global warming. About one in four Americans (27%) say they “try not to think about global warming” and 15% say they “try to avoid information about global warming.”

Some Americans also say they have difficulty coping with global warming – about one in ten Americans (11%) say they “often have trouble stopping myself from reading, watching, or listening to bad news about global warming.” Additionally, some Americans seek social or emotional support to help them cope – one in ten (10%) say they “often seek social or emotional support from other people who share my values about global warming to help me manage my concerns about the issue.”

3.5.  Seeking counseling to discuss feelings about global warming.

A total of 8% of Americans say they are either already discussing their feelings about global warming with a counselor or therapist (2%), or would definitely (2%) or probably be interested in doing so (5%). In contrast, about three in four Americans (74%) say they would either probably not (14%) or definitely not (60%) be interested in discussing their feelings about global warming with a counselor or therapist.

¹Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Monahan, P. O., & Löwe, B. (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of internal medicine, 146(5), 317-325. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-146-5-200703060-00004

²Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Medical care, 1284-1292. doi:jstor.org/stable/3768417

4. Personal and Social Engagement with Global Warming

4.1. Most Americans “rarely” or “never” discuss global warming with family and friends.

Most Americans (63%) say they either “rarely” (30%) or “never” (33%) discuss global warming with family and friends, while 37% say they discuss global warming either “occasionally” (29%) or “often” (8%).

4.2. More than half of Americans hear about global warming in the media at least once a month; fewer hear people they know talking about it at least once a month.

More than half of Americans (57%) say they hear about global warming in the media once a month or more often, while one in three (33%) say they hear about global warming in the media several times a year or less often, including 8% who say they never hear about global warming in the media.

In contrast, only one in four Americans (25%) say they hear people they know talk about global warming once a month or more often, while two in three (67%) say they hear people they know talk about it several times a year or less often, including 28% who say they never hear people they know talk about global warming.

4.3. A majority of Americans say the issue of global warming is personally important.

Two in three Americans (67%) say the issue of global warming is either “extremely” (14%), “very” (21%), or “somewhat” (31%) important to them personally. One in three (33%) say global warming is either “not too” (16%) or “not at all” (18%) personally important.

4.4. 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).1

About four in ten Americans (41%) perceive an injunctive norm, saying it is either “extremely” (4%), “very” (10%), or “moderately” (26%) important to their family and friends that they take action to reduce global warming. Similarly, 36% perceive a descriptive norm, saying their family and friends make either “a great deal of effort” (3%), “a lot of effort” (5%), or “a moderate amount of effort” (28%) to reduce global warming.

4.5. A majority of Americans feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.

A majority of Americans (63%) agree either “strongly” (19%) or “somewhat” (44%) that they feel a personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming.

4.6. About three in ten Americans look for information about solutions to global warming.

About three in ten Americans (29%) say they look for information about solutions to global warming several times a year or more often, while six in ten (60%) say they look for solutions once a year or less often, including 48% who say they never do so.

5. Fatalism

5.1. Few Americans think it is too late to do anything about global warming.

A majority of Americans (61%) either “strongly” (34%) or “somewhat” (26%) disagree with the statement: “it’s already too late to do anything about global warming.” By contrast, relatively few Americans (14%) either “strongly” (3%) or “somewhat” (10%) agree with this statement.

6. Impacts of Global Warming

6.1. A majority of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States.

Sixty percent of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including a majority (54%) who think global warming is affecting U.S. weather either “a lot” (31%) or “some” (23%).

As noted above, 31% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather “a lot.” This is about the same level as in most of our surveys since October 2017.

6.2. Most Americans think global warming is affecting environmental problems in the United States.

Most Americans think global warming is affecting many environmental problems in the United States at least “a little.” This includes seven in ten who think global warming is affecting extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires (all 70%). Six in ten or more think global warming is affecting water shortages (68%), rising sea levels (67%), flooding (66%), air pollution (64%), hurricanes (64%), tornados (62%), reduced snow pack (61%), and agricultural pests and diseases (60%). Majorities also think global warming is affecting water pollution (58%) and electricity power outages (57%).

6.3. About two in three Americans think wildfires have increased as a result of global warming.

About two in three Americans (68%) either “strongly” (32%) or “somewhat” (35%) agree that wildfires have increased around the world as a result of global warming.

6.4. A majority of Americans think extreme weather poses a risk to their community.

A majority of Americans (56%) think extreme weather poses either a “high” (17%) or “moderate” (38%) risk to their community over the next 10 years. Fewer think extreme weather poses either a “low” risk (30%) or “no” risk (6%).

6.5. A majority of Americans are worried about harm from environmental problems in their local area.

Section 6.2 of this report outlined the degree to which Americans think global warming is already affecting numerous environmental problems. This section details how worried Americans are that each of those environmental problems will harm their local area in the future. Majorities of Americans are at least “a little worried” about harm to their local area from water pollution (79%), electricity power outages (79%), air pollution (78%), droughts (75%), extreme heat (74%), agricultural pests and diseases (74%), water shortages (72%), flooding (65%), wildfires (62%), and tornados (61%). About half of Americans are worried about rising sea levels (52%), reduced snow pack (49%), and hurricanes (48%).

Appendix I: Data Tables

Data Tables can be found beginning on p. 32 of the PDF version of the report:

climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022

Appendix II: Survey Method

The data in this report are based on a nationally representative survey of 1,085 American adults, aged 18 and older. The survey was conducted December 2 – 12, 2022. All questionnaires were self-administered by respondents in a web-based environment. The median completion time for the survey was 19 minutes.

The sample was drawn from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®, an online panel of members drawn using probability sampling methods. Prospective members are recruited using a combination of random digit dial and address-based sampling techniques that cover virtually all (non-institutional) resident phone numbers and addresses in the United States. Those contacted who would choose to join the panel but do not have access to the Internet are loaned computers and provided Internet access so they may participate. The sample therefore includes a representative cross-section of  American adults – irrespective of whether they have Internet access, use only a cell phone, etc. Key demographic variables were weighted, post survey, to match U.S. Census Bureau norms.

From November 2008 to December 2018, no KnowledgePanel® member participated in more than one Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM) survey. Beginning with the April 2019 survey, panel members who have participated in CCAM surveys in the past, excluding the most recent two surveys, may be randomly selected for participation. In the current survey, 308 respondents participated in a previous CCAM survey.

The survey instrument was designed by Anthony Leiserowitz, Seth Rosenthal, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Sanguk Lee, Matthew Goldberg, and Jennifer Marlon of Yale University, and Edward Maibach, John Kotcher, and Teresa Myers of George Mason University. The figures and tables were designed by Sanguk Lee, Marija Verner, and Liz Neyens of Yale University.

Sample details and margins of error

All samples are subject to some degree of sampling error – that is, statistical results obtained from a sample can be expected to differ somewhat from results that would be obtained if every member of the target population were interviewed. Average margins of error for each wave, at the 95% confidence level, are plus or minus 3 percentage points except where noted.

• December 2022: Fielded December 2 – 12 (n = 1,085)
• April 2022: Fielded April 13 – May 2 (n = 1,018)
• September 2021: Fielded September 10 – 20 (n = 1,006)
• March 2021: Fielded March 18 – 29 (n = 1,037)
• December 2020: Fielded December 3 – 17 (n = 1,036)
• Apri 2020: Fielded April 8 – 17 (n = 1,029)
• November 2019: Fielded November 8 – 20 (n = 1,303)
• April 2019: Fielded March 29 – April 8 (n = 1,291)
• December 2018: Fielded November 28 – December 11 (n = 1,114)
• March 2018: Fielded March 7 – 24 (n = 1,278)
• October 2017: Fielded October 20 – November 1 (n = 1,304)
• May 2017: Fielded May 18 – June 6 (n = 1,266)
• November 2016: Fielded November 18 – December 1 (n = 1,226)
• March 2016: Fielded March 18 – 31 (n = 1,204)
• October 2015: Fielded September 30 – October 19 (n = 1,330)
• March 2015: Fielded February 27 – March 10 (n = 1,263)
• October 2014: Fielded October 17 – 28 (n = 1,275)
• April 2014: Fielded April 15 – 22 (n = 1,013)
• November 2013: Fielded November 23 – December 9 (n = 830)
• April 2013: Fielded April 10 – 15 (n = 1,045)
• September 2012: Fielded August 31 – September 12 (n = 1,061)
• March 2012: Fielded March 12 – 30 (n = 1,008)
• November 2011: Fielded October 20 – November 16 (n = 1,000)
• May 2011: Fielded April 23 – May 12 (n = 1,010)
• June 2010: Fielded May 14 – June 1 (n = 1,024)
• January 2010: Fielded December 24, 2009 – January 3, 2010 (n = 1,001).
• November 2008: Fielded October 7 – November 12 (n = 2,164).
  • Data were collected over two periods: from October 7 – 20 and from October 24 – November 12. Margin of error plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Rounding error

In data tables, bases specified are unweighted, but percentages are weighted to match national population parameters.

For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given chart may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. Summed response categories (e.g., “strongly agree” + “somewhat agree”) are rounded after sums are calculated. For example, in some cases, the sum of 25% + 25% might be reported as 51% (e.g., 25.3% + 25.3% = 50.6%, which, after rounding, would be reported as 25% + 25% = 51%).

Appendix III: Sample Demographics

Sample demographics can be found on p. 105 of the PDF version of the report:

climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-20220j