Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025

The report finds that a majority of Americans believe global warming is happening and is primarily human-caused, though many underestimate the level of public concern. While most perceive global warming as affecting U.S. weather and extreme events, few discuss the topic frequently with others.

• A significant majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring and is primarily caused by human activity, with 72% stating it is happening and 58% attributing it to human causes.
• There is a widespread misperception of public opinion regarding climate concern; 61% of Americans underestimate the proportion of the population worried about global warming, and only 8% estimate this percentage accurately.
• Americans perceive global warming as a driver of various extreme weather events and environmental hazards in the United States, most notably extreme heat (74%), wildfires (72%), and droughts (72%).
• Local-level concern is high, with 80% of Americans worried that air pollution and 79% worried that water pollution and electricity power outages will harm their local area.
• Despite personal concern, global warming is not a frequent topic of daily life; 44% of Americans never discuss it with family and friends, and 27% never think about it.
• Consumer activism is present but limited, with 31% of Americans having rewarded companies taking steps to reduce global warming and 26% having punished those opposing such steps in the past year.
• Personal importance of global warming has declined to its lowest level in 10 years, with 59% saying it is personally important, a 5 percentage point drop since Spring 2025.

APA

A., L., J., K., S., R., E., G., J., C., M., V., T., M., J., E., J., F., E., R., M., G., J., M., & E., M. (2026). Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-fall-2025/

Chicago

A., Leiserowitz,, Kotcher, J., Rosenthal, S., Goddard, E., Carman, J., Verner, M., Myers, T., et al. Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2026. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-fall-2025/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{a2026climate, author = {A., Leiserowitz, and J., Kotcher, and S., Rosenthal, and E., Goddard, and J., Carman, and M., Verner, and T., Myers, and J., Ettinger, and J., Fine, and E., Richards, and M., Goldberg, and J., Marlon, and E., Maibach,}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs \& Attitudes, Fall 2025}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-fall-2025/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }