This report details results from our latest national survey about global warming beliefs, risk perceptions, conversations, perceived ethical dimensions, and the impact of Pope Francis on American views of global warming. Since spring 2015, the number of Americans who think global warming will cause harm has increased substantially. The report includes many other interesting results, including the latest measures of public belief in climate change, its causes, and perceived threats.
Executive Summary
- Two in three (67%) Americans think global warming is happening. By contrast, only about one in six Americans (16%) thinks global warming is not happening.
- About half of Americans (53%) think that global warming, if it is happening, is mostly human caused. One in three (33%) say they believe it is due mostly to natural changes in the environment.
- Only about one in ten Americans understands that nearly all climate scientists (over 90%) are convinced that human-caused global warming is happening.
- Over half of Americans (57%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, but only 16% say they are “very worried.” Worry about global warming has increased 5 points since spring 2015, an increase that is driven mostly by people who now say they are “very worried” (+5 points since the spring).
- Only about one in three Americans (34%) thinks people in the U.S. are being harmed “right now” by global warming.
- Since spring 2015, however, the number of Americans who think climate change will cause harm has increased substantially. More think global warming will harm them personally (42%, +6 percentage points since spring 2015), people in the U.S. (56%, +7 points), people in developing countries (61%, +9 points), and future generations (70%, +7 points).
- Majorities of Americans say global warming is a major environmental (69%), scientific (62%), or agricultural issue (56%). About half consider it a major health (49%) or economic issue (47%). Fewer consider it to be a major moral (24%), poverty (17%), social justice (17%), national security (14%), spiritual (8%), or religious issue (7%).
- Few Americans (4%) say they have changed their opinion about global warming in the past year, while most—85 percent—say they have not.
- The number of Americans who say they discuss global warming with family and friends at least occasionally increased by 9 percentage points over the past six months, from 26% in spring 2015 to 35% in fall.
- About four in ten Americans (42%, -7 percentage points since fall 2012) think “humans could reduce global warming, but it’s unclear at this point whether we will do what is necessary.” This decline signals a growing pessimism that people will successfully address climate change. For example, whereas only 4% say humans can and will successfully reduce global warming, about one in four (26%) says we won’t because people are unwilling to change their behavior, and about one in five (18%, +6 points since spring 2015) says humans can’t reduce global warming even if it is happening.
- At least two in three Americans say corporations and industry (72%), citizens themselves (67%), and the United States (64%) should be doing “much more” or “more” to address global warming. Moreover, many also think the U.S. Congress (59%) and/or President Obama (49%) should be doing more.
- In a separate study conducted concurrently with the survey detailed in this report, we found that many Americans’ views of global warming, especially Catholic Americans, have recently been influenced by Pope Francis’s teachings about global warming. In this survey we found many of the same results. We call this “The Francis Effect.”
- For example, Catholics were especially likely to say: “I trust Pope Francis as an information source on global warming” (77% of Catholics versus 56% of non-Catholics); “The Pope’s position on global warming had an influence on my own views about global warming” (20% versus 5%, respectively); and “The Pope’s position on global warming has made me more concerned about global warming” (19% versus 5%).
This 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: September 30–October 19, 2015. Interviews: 1,330 Adults (18+). Average margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The research was funded by the 11th Hour Project, the Energy Foundation, the Grantham Foundation, and the V.K. Rasmussen Foundation.
Principal Investigators:
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
[email protected]
Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication
[email protected]
Connie Roser-Renouf, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication
[email protected]
Geoff Feinberg
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
[email protected]
Seth Rosenthal, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
[email protected]
Cite as: Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Feinberg, G., & Rosenthal, S. (2015). Climate
change in the American mind: October, 2015. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.