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

The report finds that a strong majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring and is mostly human-caused, with 66% expressing worry about the issue. While many perceive significant risks to their local communities and the United States—particularly from extreme heat, sea level rise, and wildfires—most Americans rarely discuss the topic with friends and family. The findings also indicate a general rejection of fatalism, with 66% disagreeing that it is too late to act, although a significant gap remains in public understanding of the strength of the scientific consensus on human-caused warming.

• A large majority of Americans believe global warming is happening, with 74% stating it is occurring and 53% feeling "very" or "extremely" sure. When including those who "lean" toward a yes answer, this figure rises to 82%.
• While 61% of Americans recognize that global warming is primarily caused by humans, there is a lack of understanding regarding the scale of scientific agreement; only 20% know that more than 90% of climate scientists agree that human-caused global warming is happening.
• Americans perceive global warming as a current and future threat, with 48% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now" and 44% reporting personal experience with its effects. High levels of concern exist for future harm to future generations (71%), plant and animal species (70%), and the world's poor (69%).
• Despite 66% of Americans being at least "somewhat worried" and 62% feeling a personal responsibility to help, the issue is rarely discussed socially; 66% say they "rarely" or "never" discuss global warming with family and friends.
• Americans generally reject climate fatalism, with 66% disagreeing that it is too late to act and 57% disagreeing that individual actions make no difference. Additionally, 56% disagree that new technologies can solve the problem without individuals making significant life changes.
• A majority of Americans believe global warming is affecting U.S. weather (65%) and specific environmental problems, most notably extreme heat (75%), rising sea levels (72%), wildfires (71%), and droughts (71%).
• Local risk perception is high, with 56% of Americans believing extreme weather poses a moderate or high risk to their community over the next decade. Specific local concerns include extreme heat, water pollution, and air pollution, all at 72%.

APA

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

Chicago

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Sanguk Lee, Marija Verner, Matthew Ballew, et al. Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Spring 2023. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2023. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2023/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

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