Americans' beliefs and attitudes about global warming

A March 2021 survey of 1,037 Americans shows that 70% believe global warming is happening, with 57% attributing it to human causes. While 64% express worry about global warming and 65% feel a personal responsibility to reduce it, only 33% discuss the topic frequently with family and friends. The report also highlights a gap in public understanding of the scientific consensus, with only 22% aware that over 90% of climate scientists agree on human-caused warming.

• A significant majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring, with 70% stating it is happening compared to 15% who believe it is not. Furthermore, 50% are "very" or "extremely" sure it is happening, while only 9% are as sure it is not.
• While 57% of Americans recognize that global warming is mostly human-caused, there is a lack of awareness regarding the strength of the scientific consensus; only 22% understand that more than 90% of climate scientists are convinced of human-caused global warming.
• Public concern is high, with 64% of Americans reporting they are at least "somewhat worried" about global warming and 25% being "very worried."
• Americans perceive global warming as a current and future threat, with 45% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now" and 42% reporting personal experience with its effects. Perceived future harm is highest for plant and animal species (71%) and future generations (71%).
• Despite personal concern and a sense of responsibility (65%), global warming is rarely a topic of social conversation; 67% of Americans say they "rarely" or "never" discuss it with family and friends.
• Americans generally maintain a sense of efficacy, with 63% disagreeing that it is too late to act and 60% disagreeing that individual actions make no difference. Additionally, 54% disagree that new technologies can solve the problem without individual life changes.
• There is a strong perception that global warming is impacting weather and environment, with 61% believing it affects U.S. weather and 65% agreeing that wildfires have increased globally as a result.

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Rosenthal, S., Carman, J., Goldberg, M., Lacroix, K., Marlon, J., Maibach, E., & Kotcher, J. (2021). Americans' beliefs and attitudes about global warming. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-3/

Chicago

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Seth Rosenthal, Jennifer Carman, Matthew Goldberg, Karine Lacroix, Jennifer Marlon, Edward Maibach, and John Kotcher. Americans' beliefs and attitudes about global warming. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2021. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-3/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitz2021americans, author = {Leiserowitz, Anthony and Rosenthal, Seth and Carman, Jennifer and Goldberg, Matthew and Lacroix, Karine and Marlon, Jennifer and Maibach, Edward and Kotcher, John}, title = {{Americans' beliefs and attitudes about global warming}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-3/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }