A growing majority of Americans think global warming is happening and are worried

Analysis of survey data from 2013 to 2018 shows a sharp increase in the proportion of Americans who believe global warming is happening, is human-caused, and is a cause for personal and general concern, with these trends appearing across the political spectrum.

• Between December 2013 and December 2018, there were significant increases in the proportion of Americans who believe global warming is occurring (+11 percentage points), is caused by humans (+15), and that there is scientific consensus on its occurrence (+15). Additionally, the percentage of people reporting personal experience with the effects of global warming rose by 13 percentage points.
• Public concern and perceived importance of global warming increased during the study period, with a 16-point rise in those who are worried, a 17-point rise in those who feel it is personally important, and increases in the belief that it will harm Americans in general (+12) and individuals personally (+11).
• These shifts in opinion occurred across the political spectrum, including among Democrats and Republicans. Specifically, the 16-point increase in worry was driven largely by moderate/conservative Democrats (+19) and conservative Republicans (+18).

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2019). A growing majority of Americans think global warming is happening and are worried. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/a-growing-majority-of-americans-think-global-warming-is-happening-and-are-worried/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. A growing majority of Americans think global warming is happening and are worried. 2019. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/a-growing-majority-of-americans-think-global-warming-is-happening-and-are-worried/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=A growing majority of Americans think global warming is happening and are worried |date=21 February 2019 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/a-growing-majority-of-americans-think-global-warming-is-happening-and-are-worried/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2019growing, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{A growing majority of Americans think global warming is happening and are worried}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/a-growing-majority-of-americans-think-global-warming-is-happening-and-are-worried/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }