Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind

The report finds that while a vast majority of Americans experienced extreme weather in the past year and many link high-profile events to global warming, household disaster preparedness remains low, with only about 36-37% having emergency plans or kits.

• A significant majority of Americans have personal experience with extreme weather, with 82% reporting they experienced one or more types of extreme weather or a natural disaster in the past year, and 35% reporting they were personally harmed a great deal or a moderate amount by such events.
• Americans generally perceive U.S. weather as worsening and believe global warming exacerbated several specific events, including the 2011-2012 warm winter (72%), 2011 record high summer temperatures (70%), the 2011 Texas and Oklahoma drought (69%), 2011 Mississippi River floods (63%), 2010-2011 record snowfall (61%), and Hurricane Irene (59%).
• Household preparedness for disasters is low, with only 36% of Americans having a disaster emergency plan known to all family members and 37% having an emergency supply kit at home.

APA

A., L., E., M., C., R.-R., & D., H. J. (2012). Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/extreme-weather-climate-preparedness-in-the-american-mind-march-2012/

Chicago

A., Leiserowitz,, Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., and Hmielowski, J. D. Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2012. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/extreme-weather-climate-preparedness-in-the-american-mind-march-2012/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=A. |first1=Leiserowitz, |last2=E. |first2=Maibach, |last3=C. |first3=Roser-Renouf, |last4=D. |first4=Hmielowski, J. |title=Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind |publisher=Center for Climate Change Communication |date=6 March 2012 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/extreme-weather-climate-preparedness-in-the-american-mind-march-2012/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{a2012extreme, author = {A., Leiserowitz, and E., Maibach, and C., Roser-Renouf, and D., Hmielowski, J.}, title = {{Extreme Weather, Climate \& Preparedness in the American Mind}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/extreme-weather-climate-preparedness-in-the-american-mind-march-2012/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }