Climate Change in the American Mind

The October 2014 survey reveals that while 66% of Americans believe global warming is happening, only 50% attribute it to human activities, and only 33% believe people in the U.S. are currently being harmed. Despite these gaps in perception, there is strong public support for a variety of climate policies, including renewable energy research (77%), carbon dioxide regulation (75%), and infrastructure improvements for extreme weather (83%).

• A majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring, with 66% affirming it is happening, an increase of 3 percentage points from November 2013. Conversely, 16% believe it is not happening.
• There is a significant gap between public perception and scientific consensus regarding the cause of global warming; only 50% of Americans believe it is mostly caused by human activities, whereas approximately 97% of active climate scientists have reached that conclusion.
• Public awareness of the scientific consensus is very low, with only about 10% of Americans knowing that over 90% of climate scientists agree that global warming is human-caused.
• Americans generally perceive global warming as a distant threat. Only 33% believe people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now," and individuals are less likely to believe it will cause a great deal or moderate amount of harm to themselves (36%) than to future generations (64%) or plant and animal species (64%).
• There is broad public support for various climate-related policies, including funding for extreme weather-resistant infrastructure (83%), renewable energy research (77%), tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (77%), and the regulation of carbon dioxide as a pollutant (75%).
• A majority of Americans believe that both the private and public sectors should increase their efforts to address global warming. This includes corporations and industry (67%), citizens (63%), the U.S. Congress (57%), and President Obama (51%).
• Approximately 22% of Americans are either already participating in or would be willing to join a campaign to pressure elected officials to take action on global warming.

APA

Center for Climate Change Communication (2014). Climate Change in the American Mind. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/October-2014-Climate-Change-in-the-American-Mind.pdf

Chicago

Center for Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Mind. 2014. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/October-2014-Climate-Change-in-the-American-Mind.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Mind |date=October 2014 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/October-2014-Climate-Change-in-the-American-Mind.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforclimatechangecommunication2014climate, author = {{Center for Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/October-2014-Climate-Change-in-the-American-Mind.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }