Worry about extreme heat

Analysis of U.S. public opinion shows a significant increase in worry about extreme heat harming local areas between 2018 and 2023, with heat now topping the list of climate-related concerns over wildfires, droughts, and flooding.

• As of April 2023, 72% of Americans report being at least "a little" worried that extreme heat will harm their local area, with 44% expressing "very" or "moderately" worried sentiments.
• Public concern regarding local harm from extreme heat increased by 9 percentage points between March 2018 and April 2023, rising from 35% to 44% for those who are "very" or "moderately" worried.
• Extreme heat has become a more prominent concern for Americans than other climate impacts; since March 2018, worry about extreme heat grew by 9 points, outpacing increases for wildfires (+5 points), droughts (+5 points), water shortages (+4 points), and reduced snow pack (+2 points), while worry for hurricanes and flooding decreased.
• A majority of Americans recognize a link between global warming and extreme heat, with 75% believing global warming affects it at least "a little" and 42% stating it affects it "a lot."

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2023). Worry about extreme heat. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/worry-about-extreme-heat/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Worry about extreme heat. 2023. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/worry-about-extreme-heat/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Worry about extreme heat |date=27 July 2023 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/worry-about-extreme-heat/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2023worry, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Worry about extreme heat}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/worry-about-extreme-heat/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }