In 2011, Americans experienced a record-breaking 14 weather and climate disasters that each caused $1 billion or more in damages, in total costing approximately $53 billion, along with incalculable loss of human life. These disasters included severe drought in Texas and the Great Plains, Hurricane Irene along the eastern seaboard, tornadoes in the Midwest, and massive floods in the Mississippi River Valley. In the period of January through March 2012, Americans also experienced record warm temperatures, with temperatures across the contiguous United States 6.0 degrees F above the long-term average. In March alone, 15,292 warm temperature records were broken across the United States.
Report Summary
Highlights:
- 82 percent of Americans report that they personally experienced one or more types of extreme weather or a natural disaster in the past year;
- 35 percent of all Americans report that they were personally harmed either a great deal or a moderate amount by one or more of these extreme weather events in the past year;
- Over the past several years, Americans say the weather in the U.S. has been getting worse – rather than better – by a margin of over 2 to 1 (52% vs. 22%);
- A large majority of Americans believe that global warming made several high profile extreme weather events worse, including the unusually warm winter of December 2011 and January 2012 (72%), record high summer temperatures in the U.S. in 2011 (70%), the drought in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 (69%), record snowfall in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011 (61%), the Mississippi River floods in the spring of 2011 (63%), and Hurricane Irene (59%);
- Only 36 percent of Americans have a disaster emergency plan that all members of their family know about or an emergency supply kit in their home (37%).
The New York Times article on this report: In Poll, Many Link Weather Extemes to Climate Change.
Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind reports results from a nationally representative survey of 1,008 American adults, aged 18 and older, fielded March 12 through March 30, 2012, using the online research panel of Knowledge Networks. The report includes measures of public observations and experiences of weather, opinions about the links between global warming and particular extreme weather events, levels of household preparedness, and use of local weather forecasts.
Interview dates: March 12, 2012 – March 30, 2012. Interviews: 1,008 Adults (18+)
Margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
NOTE: All results show percentages among all respondents, unless otherwise labeled. Totals may
occasionally sum to more than 100 percent due to rounding.
This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George
Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, and was funded by the Surdna
Foundation, the 11th Hour Project, and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the
Environment.
Principal Investigators:
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD
Yale Project on Climate Change Communication
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University
(203) 432-4865 [email protected]
Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD
Center for Climate Change Communication
Department of Communication, George Mason University
(703) 993-1587 [email protected]
Connie Roser-Renouf, PhD
Center for Climate Change Communication
Department of Communication, George Mason University
(707) 825-0601 [email protected]
Jay D. Hmielowski, PhD
Yale Project on Climate Change Communication
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University
(203) 432-0773 [email protected]
Cite as: Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2012) Extreme Weather,
Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind. Yale University and George Mason University. New
Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.
http://environment.yale.edu/climate/files/Extreme-Weather-Climate-Preparedness.pdf