Climate Change in the American Mind

The report documents an upward trend in American concern about global warming, with 71% believing it is happening and 47% feeling certain of it. While 54% attribute it to human activity, only 15% are aware of the high scientific consensus. Emotional responses are predominantly negative, with high levels of disgust and helplessness. Perceived risks are increasing, with 44% reporting personal experience of its effects and 42% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed 'right now.' Most Americans view global warming as an environmental or scientific issue and believe it is affecting U.S. weather, though confidence in the human ability to successfully reduce it remains very low at 5%.

• Public belief and certainty that global warming is occurring have increased; 71% of Americans think it is happening, and 47% are 'extremely' or 'very' sure, the latter being the highest level since November 2008.
• There is a significant gap between public perception and scientific consensus; while 54% believe global warming is mostly human-caused, only 15% realize that more than 90% of climate scientists share this conclusion.
• Emotional responses to global warming are largely negative, with 22% of Americans being 'very worried'—the highest level since surveys began in 2008. Other prevalent emotions include disgust (55%) and helplessness (52%).
• Perceived personal and national risk is rising, with 44% of respondents stating they have personally experienced the effects of global warming and 42% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed 'right now.'
• Americans identify global warming primarily as an environmental (78%) and scientific (71%) issue, but less frequently as a moral (41%), national security (29%), or religious (9%) issue.
• A majority of Americans believe global warming is affecting U.S. weather (64%) and specifically believe it worsened 2017 events such as California heat waves (55%), hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (54%), and western U.S. wildfires (52%).
• Confidence in the ability of humans to successfully reduce global warming is very low, with only 5% believing humans can and will do so successfully.

APA

Center for Climate Change Communication (2017). Climate Change in the American Mind. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017-min.pdf

Chicago

Center for Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Mind. 2017. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017-min.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Mind |date=October 2017 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017-min.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforclimatechangecommunication2017climate, author = {{Center for Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017-min.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }