Reports

Climate Change in the American Mind: Climate Justice, Spring 2023

September 12, 2023 Table of Contents Report Summary Reading Notes Executive Summary 1. Americans' Beliefs…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2023

June 28, 2023 Climate Change in the American Mind is conducted jointly by the Yale…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Spring 2023

June 8, 2023 Climate Change in the American Mind is conducted jointly by the Yale…

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

February 16, 2023 Climate Change in the American Mind is conducted jointly by the Yale…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, December 2022

January 31, 2023 Climate Change in the American Mind is a joint program of the…

Younger Americans are growing more worried about global warming

December 15, 2022 We are pleased to announce the latest release of Climate Change in…

Climate Change in the American Mind, April 2022

July 21, 2022 Climate Change in the American Mind is a joint program of the…

Politics & Global Warming, April 2022

July 7, 2022 Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,018; including 908 registered…

Who is willing to participate in non-violent civil disobedience for the climate?

January 25, 2022 Note: Some of the numbers in this report were corrected and updated…

Global Warming’s Six Americas, September 2021

January 12, 2022 Our prior research has found that Americans can be categorized into six…

GMU 4C 2021 Annual Report

Consumer Activism on Global Warming, September 2021

December 16, 2021 Our latest national survey finds that millions of Americans are willing to…

Climate Change in the American Mind, September 2021

November 18, 2021 ​​Our latest national survey finds that overall public understanding that climate change…

Public Support for International Climate Action, September 2021

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,006; including 898 registered voters), this report describes…

Politics & Global Warming, September 2021

October 21, 2021 Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,006; including 898 registered voters),…

Public support for climate action by the president and Congress is rising

September 28, 2021 We are pleased to share a short report on registered voters’ support…

Dramatic increase in public beliefs and worries about climate change

September 27, 2021 We have just completed our latest nationally representative survey on Climate Change…

Americans’ actions to limit and prepare for global warming

August 3rd, 2021 Our report on Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming…

Segmenting the climate change Alarmed: Active, Willing, and Inactive

July 27, 2021 To build public, consumer, and political will for climate action, it is…

Climate Change in the American Mind, March 2021

Our latest national survey finds Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who…

Politics & Global Warming, March 2021

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,037; including 922 registered voters), this report describes…

Public Support for International Climate Action: March 2021

In March 2021, President Biden officially invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on…

Climate Activism: A Six Americas Analysis, December 2020

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,036), this report describes how Americans view…

Climate Change in the American Mind: December 2020

Our latest national survey finds Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who…

Politics & Global Warming: December 2020

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,036; including 949 registered voters), this report describes…

Informal Science Education on the NASA Climate Change Website

The report summarizes the results of a nationally representative survey of 1,050 American adults conducted…

Climate Matters: A 2020 Census Survey of Society of Environmental Journalists Members

This report provides the initial findings from an online census survey of Society of Environmental…

Climate Matters: A 2020 Census Survey of Television Weathercasters in the United States

This report provides the initial findings from an online census survey of U.S.-based television weathercasters.…

Americans’ Views on Climate Change, NASA, and NASA’s Climate Website

This report summarizes the results of a nationally representative survey of American adults conducted in…

American Adolescents’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Sources of Information on Climate Change

The past several years have witnessed a dramatic increase in young people’s activism on climate…

American Adolescents’ Responses to NASA’s Climate Change Website

This is the second of two reports about American adolescents and climate change. In the…

GMU 4C 2020 Annual Report

Politics & Global Warming: April 2020

This report examines registered voters’ climate change beliefs and attitudes, voting issue priorities, support for…

Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2020

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in…

Americans’ Risk Perceptions and Emotional Responses to COVID-19: April 2020

Drawing on a scientific national survey (N = 3,933; including 3,188 registered voters), this report describes…

Voters Prioritize Directing Stimulus Funds to Clean Energy Rather Than to Fossil Fuels

American voters want politicians to listen to scientists and experts regarding how to handle the…

American Public Responses to COVID-19: April 2020

Drawing on a scientific national survey (N = 3,933; including 3,188 registered voters), this report describes…

Voters in Upcoming 2020 Primary States Support Climate Action

As the Democratic presidential primary gets underway, a new survey finds voters in the 26…

Climate Activism: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors- November 2019

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,303; including 1,114 registered voters), this report…

Politics & Global Warming: November 2019

These and many other interesting findings, including changes in public climate change beliefs, risk perceptions,…

Alarmed now largest of Global Warming’s Six Americas

Nearly six in ten (58%) Americans are now either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about global warming.…

Swing States Support Renewable Energy

Between June and November 2019, Nexus Polling, in partnership with the Yale Program on Climate…

Climate Change in the American Mind: November 2019

A majority of Americans are "extremely" or "very" sure global warming is happening, outnumbering those…

Georgia Voters Support Climate Action

With our partners at Climate Nexus and Yale University, we are pleased to share the…

America Misled: How the fossil fuel industry deliberately misled Americans about climate change

Over the past few decades, the fossil fuel industry has subjected the American public to…

American Voters Support Climate Action

As CNN holds a candidate forum on climate change this evening, we are pleased to…

Iowa Voters Support Climate Action

As Democratic presidential candidates head to the Iowa State Fair this week, we are pleased…

Michigan Voters Support Climate Action

Ahead of the Democrats’ second presidential primary debate in Detroit, a new survey finds Michigan…

Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2019

About seven in ten Americans (69%) think global warming is happening. Only about one in…

Florida Voters Support Climate Action

Among Florida voters, climate change is politically salient. Seventy-one percent of Florida voters overall and…

Politics & Global Warming: April 2019

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,291; including 1,097 registered voters), this report describes…

Energy in the American Mind: December 2018

Energy-American-Mind-December-20181-min

Politics & Global Warming: December 2018

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,114; including 966 registered voters), this report…

Climate Change in the American Mind: December 2018

This report documents a continued upward trend in Americans’ concern about global warming, as reflected…

Medical Alert! Climate Change is Harming our Health

Most Americans are not aware of the health harms of climate change. A recent survey…

Do Millennials See Climate Change as More Than Just a Meme?

Comparing Climate Change Awareness and Opinion Among Millennials and other Generations This paper compares the…

Politics & Global Warming: March 2018

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in…

National Association of Black Journalists Member Survey, 2018

This report provides the initial findings from an online census survey of National Association of…

National Association of Hispanic Journalists Member Survey, 2018

This report provides the initial findings from an online census survey of the National Association…

Climate Change in the American Mind: March 2018

Our March 2018 survey finds that a large majority of Americans think global warming is happening,…

March for Science 2017

To the best of our knowledge, the 2017 March for Science was the largest ever…

The Consensus Handbook

Numerous efforts are currently underway to confuse the public about the scientific consensus on human-caused…

Society of Environmental Journalists Member Survey, 2018

Nearly all SEJ survey participants said they had at least some level of interest in…

Radio Television Digital News Association Member Survey, 2018

RTDNA participants are interested in reporting a wide range of local impact stories---    as…

Politics & Global Warming: October 2017

Drawing from our most recent nationally representative survey, we find substantial changes in climate change…

Climate Change in American Mind: October 2017

Our October 2017 nationally representative survey finds that the number of Americans “very worried” about global…

Mason 4C 2016 Annual Report

In August 2017, we quietly celebrated our Center’s 10th anniversary. We’re proud of what we…

Politics & Global Warming: May 2017

A majority of registered voters – including large majorities of liberal, moderate and conservative Democrats,…

Climate Change in the American Mind: May 2017

This report finds that More than half of Americans believe that climate change is mostly human…

A 2017 national survey of broadcast meteorologists

Broadcast meteorologists are increasingly playing an important role across America as trusted, local climate change…

Trump Voters & Global Warming

President Trump has questioned the reality of global warming and cast doubt on America's participation…

Climate Change in the American Mind: November 2016

In the wake of a contentious U.S. election and despite the election of a president…

Politics & Global Warming: November 2016

Against the backdrop of the incoming administration of President-elect Trump and a new Republican Congress,…

Perceptions of Community Resilience: A Maryland Community Pilot Study, 2016

This study represents a partnership with many individuals and organizations—including the City of Baltimore’s Office…

Public Perceptions of Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2016

Maryland’s Millennials lead older generations in their certainty that climate change is happening, understanding of…

Public Knowledge, Behaviors & Preferences about Energy & Transportation: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2016

Marylanders, especially Millennials, want to see increased use of renewable energy sources in the state.…

Public Health, Energy & Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2016

Many Marylanders already currently deal with chronic health issues and prolonged periods of stress. Millennials…

U.S. Media Reporting of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change: Coverage in National and Local Newspapers, 2001-2015

We turned our attention to the news media to see how much reporting on sea…

Promoting Community Involvement and Opinion Leadership in Protection of the Salt Marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge: An analysis of audience and program participant surveys conducted for Pickering Creek Audubon Center

The research conducted for this report is intended to benefit the development of Pickering Creek…

Climate Change in the American Mind: March 2016

Since spring 2015, the number of Americans who think global warming is happening has increased by…

Global Warming and the U.S. Presidential Election: Spring 2016

This report offers findings about how supporters of current presidential candidates–Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, John Kasich,…

Politics & Global Warming: Spring 2016

Increasing numbers of American voters think global warming is happening, and many say the issue…

A 2016 Survey of American Meteorological Society Members About Climate Change

This report provides findings from the national survey of American Meteorological Society (AMS) member views…

A 2016 National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists

This report provides initial findings from the fourth nationally representative survey of broadcast meteorologists conducted…

Politics and Global Warming: Fall 2015

This report focuses on how Americans (registered voters) across the political spectrum–Democrats, Independents, and Republicans…

Faith, Morality and the Environment: Portraits of Global Warming’s Six Americas

Recent months have witnessed an evolution in public discourse on global warming. Typically discussed in…

Views of Allergy Specialists on the Health Effects of Climate Change

This report contains the findings of a survey of the members of the American Academy…

The Francis Effect: How Pope Francis Changed the Conversation about Global Warming

Given the Pope’s stature as a global religious leader, and the large number of Catholic…

Public Perceptions of Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2015

For the past three years, we have been asking Maryland residents questions about their understanding…

Public Knowledge, Behaviors and Preferences About Energy: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2015

For the past three years, we have been asking Marylanders questions about their preferences for…

Climate Change in the American Mind: October 2015

This report details results from our latest national survey about global warming beliefs, risk perceptions,…

Photojournalism as a Vehicle for Public Engagement with Climate Change

The power of photographs to engage the public with multifaceted, complex issues of global scope…

Maryland’s Catholics Say Climate is a Health Risk to their Communities and Support State Climate and Energy Policies: September 2015

On September 22, Pope Francis flew into Maryland’s Andrews Air Force Base for a 3-day…

Public Health, Energy and Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2015

For the past three years, we have been asking Maryland residents questions about their understanding…

Engaging Eastern Shore Communities in Protection of the Salt Marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

In Spring 2015, George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication conducted a set of…

A 2015 National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists about Climate Change

A 2015 National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists about Climate Change - Below are results from a national survey…

Climate Change in the American Mind: March 2015

Nearly two-thirds of the American public (63%) currently think global warming is happening, a percentage…

Climate Change in the American Christian Mind: March 2015

Many Americans draw, at least in part, upon their religious beliefs to guide their understanding…

Health and Climate Change: Views of Members of the American Thoracic Society

The following report contains the findings of a survey of the U.S. members of the…

Engaging Diverse Audiences with Climate Change: Message Strategies for Global Warming’s Six Americas

We are pleased to provide you with an adapted version of our chapter from the Routledge Handbook of…

Global Warming’s Six Americas in October 2014: Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming and Update on Key Beliefs

This report focuses on how each of the Six Americas understands the human health consequences of…

Public Health, Energy and Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2014

In 2013, George Mason University fielded the first survey of climate change, energy and public…

Public Beliefs, Behaviors & Preferences About Energy: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2014

George Mason University partnered with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on a…

Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming: October 2014

This report finds that Americans are generally unaware of the potential health consequences of global…

Climate Change in the American Mind: October 2014

Recognizing that public opinion plays a critical role in the American response to global warming,…

Adapting to Climate Change & Sea Level Rise: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2014

Highlights of this survey, which was released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and conducted…

Key Findings of a National Medical Association Survey

The following report contains the findings of a survey conducted in two phases in March…

Public Perceptions of Climate Change: A Maryland Statewide Survey, Fall 2014

This 2014 survey on public perceptions of climate change in Maryland followed a 2013 study…

Global Warming vs. Climate Change: May 2014

In January 2014, we conducted a nationally representative experimental study  and found that the terms…

Politics and Global Warming: April 2014

Most  registered voters are 2.5 times more likely to vote for a congressional or presidential…

Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2014

This report summarizes the beliefs and attitudes findings from our April 2014 survey. Findings include…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: November 2013

This report summarizes polling of public support for climate and energy policies in the United…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in November 2013

This Climate Change in the American Mind survey found that 1 in 4 Americans think…

Maryland’s Six Climate Change Audiences: A Global Warming’s Six Americas Audience Segmentation, Summer 2013

This report presents an analysis of the different ways in which Marylanders are thinking about…

Public Health, Energy and Climate Change: A Survey of Maryland Residents, Summer 2013

In Summer 2013, we surveyed 2,126 Maryland residents on their attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences…

Climate Change & Energy: Public Attitudes, Behaviors and Policy Support: A Survey of Maryland Residents, Summer 2013

In this report we present findings about attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences regarding energy and…

Nudging Toward a Healthy Natural Environment: How Behavioral Change Research Can Inform Conservation

This report synthesizes foundational knowledge from psychology and behavioral economics to develop recommendations for promoting…

Perceptions of Extreme Weather and Climate Change in Virginia

This report presents findings from a telephone survey of 2,000 adult local TV news viewers…

How Americans Communicate about Global Warming: April 2013

Highlights of this survey on Americans’ climate communication behaviors include: Only one in three Americans…

Americans’ Actions to Limit Global Warming: April 2013

Highlights Consumer Behavior: Half of all Americans at least occasionally consider environmental impacts when deciding…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: April 2013

Highlights of this report include findings that a large majority of Americans (87%, down 5…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in April 2013

Nearly two in three Americans (63%) believe global warming is happening. Relatively few – only…

A National Survey of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents on Energy and Climate Change

This short report is based on a January 2013 national survey of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. We…

Extreme Weather and Climate Change in the American Mind: November 2013

Six in ten Americans (59%) say weather in the U.S. has been worse over the…

Extreme Weather and Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2013

Highlights: About six in ten Americans (58%) say “global warming is affecting weather in the…

Public Perceptions of NASA’s Research and Reactions to the Climate.NASA.gov Website

This report contains results from a nationally representative survey of American adults conducted in April…

Community Adaptation to Sea Level Rise and Inundation

By pairing surveys and a public deliberative event with detailed household, neighborhood and county-level impacts…

Public Perceptions of NASA and other Federal Agencies’ Climate Research

The following two reports are from a national study conducted to measure the public's trust…

Perception of Federal Agencies that Conduct Climate Change Research

This report contains results from a nationally representative survey of American adults conducted in April…

The Political Benefits of Taking a Pro-Climate Stand in 2013

This brief report draws upon data from a nationally representative survey conducted in September 2012…

“Fracking” in the American Mind: Americans’ Views on Hydraulic Fracturing in September 2012

In our September 2012 Climate Change in the American Mind survey, we asked respondents to…

The Potential Impact of Global Warming on the 2012 Presidential Election

A new national survey of Americans finds that among likely voters, 11% remain undecided about…

Extreme Weather and Climate Change in the American Mind: September 2012

A large and growing majority of Americans (74%, up 5 points since our last national…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in September 2012

Americans’ belief in the reality of global warming has increased by 13 percentage points over…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: September 2012

Nearly all Americans (92%) say the president and the Congress should make developing sources of…

Americans’ Actions to Limit Global Warming: September 2012

The number of Americans who say they “always” or “often” walk or bike instead of…

The Political Benefits of Taking a Pro-Climate Stand in 2013: September 2012

This brief report examines findings from our previously released September 2012 nationwide Climate Change in…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Global Warming’s Six Americas in September 2012

In 2008, using nationally representative survey data on global warming beliefs, behaviors and policy preferences…

Extreme Weather, Climate Preparedness in the American Mind: March 2012

In 2011, Americans experienced a record-breaking 14 weather and climate disasters that each caused $1…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Polices: March 2012

Overall, majorities of Americans say that global warming and clean energy should be among the…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012

Overall, Americans' beliefs and attitudes about global warming have remained relatively stable over the past…

Americans’ Actions To Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in March 2012

We conducted a nationally representative survey to assess public climate change understanding, risk perceptions, policy…

Global Warming’s Six Americas in March 2012 and November 2011

This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans’ interpretations of and…

American Meteorological Society Member Survey on Global Warming: Preliminary Findings, February 2012

We collaborated with the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to assess AMS members’ perspectives about climate…

Climate Change in the Indian Mind

In November and December 2011, members of our research team conducted a study investigating the…

Americans’ Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: November 2011

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in…

Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes: November 2011

This study, conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason…

Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste and Limit Global Warming: November 2011

This report is based upon the findings of a survey conducted by the Yale Project…

Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party

A special report, Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party reports how the…

A National Survey of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change Education, June 2011

With funding from the National Science Foundation, we assessed TV weathercasters' views about their potential…

Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming: May 2011

This report is based upon the findings of a survey conducted by the Yale Project…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes: May 2011

  This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: May 2011

This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George…

Global Warming’s Six Americas: May 2011

This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George…

Climategate, Public Opinion, and the Loss of Trust

This working paper examines the impact of Climategate on public perceptions of climate change and…

Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes: June 2010

This report includes measures of public global warming beliefs, risk perceptions, personal importance, information needs,…

Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: June 2010

This study, conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason…

Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming: June 2010

This study, conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Global Warming’s Six Americas in June 2010

This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans’ interpretations of and…

The Climate Change Generation? Survey Analysis of the Perceptions and Beliefs of Young Americans: 2010

This report reveals that Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are, for the…

Preliminary Findings of a National Survey of News Directors about Climate Change: June 2010

Television news directors are a critically important "gatekeeper" of climate change information in that more…

America’s TV Weathercasters as Informal Climate Change Educators

Our surveys of the public have shown that many Americans are looking to their local…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010

This report indicates that public concern about global warming, and public trust in a range of…

Global Warming’s Six Americas, January 2010

This report shows that “Dismissive” Americans – people who believe global warming is not happening and…

Race, Ethnicity and Public Responses to Climate Change

In this report we examine public support for climate change and energy policies among different…

Global Warming’s Six Americas, 2009: An Audience Segmentation Analysis

Click Here to Download the Full Report. In our report Global Warming's Six Americas, 2009, we…

Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Climate Change Beliefs, Attitudes, Policy Preferences, and Action, March 2009

Released in March 2009, Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans' Climate Change Beliefs, Attitudes,…

Climate Change in the American Mind: March 2009

In September and October 2008, a research team from Yale and George Mason Universities conducted…

Meeting Report: Assessing Public Attitudes about Climate Change, April 2008

4C and the National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration co-sponsored a dialogue among public opinion researchers…

Are we ready?

With the National Association of City and County Health Officials and the Environmental Defense Fund,…

What Are Americans Thinking and Doing about Global Warming? Results of a National Household Survey: January 2008

With public relations agency Porter-Novelli, we conducted a large nationally representative survey of adults and…