Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs and Attitudes

A December 2022 survey of 1,085 American adults reveals that a majority believe global warming is happening and mostly human-caused. While 64% express worry and some report psychological distress, most reject fatalism and feel a personal responsibility to help. Americans identify a wide range of local risks, particularly water pollution and power outages, and generally believe global warming is affecting U.S. weather and environmental problems.

• A significant majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring and is primarily caused by human activity. Specifically, 79% think it is happening or lean toward that position, and 58% understand that it is "mostly human-caused."
• Americans perceive global warming as a current threat to themselves and others. About 49% believe people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now," and 47% report they have "personally experienced the effects of global warming."
• Global warming is associated with various emotional and mental health impacts. While 64% are at least "somewhat worried," approximately 11% report experiencing symptoms of anxiety and 9% report symptoms of depression because of global warming for several or more days in the last two weeks.
• Despite concerns, most Americans reject climate fatalism and feel a sense of agency. 61% disagree that "it’s already too late to do anything about global warming," and 63% feel a "personal sense of responsibility to help reduce global warming."
• Americans identify numerous environmental problems in the U.S. as being affected by global warming, with the highest percentages for extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires (all 70%).
• There is high concern regarding future local harms, with the most cited risks being water pollution (79%) and electricity power outages (79%). Additionally, 56% believe extreme weather poses a "high" or "moderate" risk to their community over the next 10 years.

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Rosenthal, S., Carman, J., Verner, M., Lee, S., Goldberg, M., Marlon, J., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., & Myers, T. (2023). Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs and Attitudes. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022/

Chicago

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Seth Rosenthal, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Sanguk Lee, Matthew Goldberg, Jennifer Marlon, et al. Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs and Attitudes. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2023. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Leiserowitz |first1=Anthony |last2=Rosenthal |first2=Seth |last3=Carman |first3=Jennifer |last4=Verner |first4=Marija |last5=Lee |first5=Sanguk |last6=Goldberg |first6=Matthew |last7=Marlon |first7=Jennifer |last8=Maibach |first8=Edward |last9=Kotcher |first9=John |display-authors=etal |title=Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs and Attitudes |publisher=Center for Climate Change Communication |date=15 February 2023 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitz2023climate, author = {Leiserowitz, Anthony and Rosenthal, Seth and Carman, Jennifer and Verner, Marija and Lee, Sanguk and Goldberg, Matthew and Marlon, Jennifer and Maibach, Edward and Kotcher, John and Myers, Teresa}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs and Attitudes}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }