Who is changing their mind about global warming and why?

Analysis of survey data from 2011-2015 shows that 8% of Americans changed their opinions on global warming, with 84% of those becoming more concerned. The primary drivers for increased concern were direct or reported experiences of climate impacts and increased information, while those becoming less concerned often cited beliefs that global warming is a natural process or a hoax.

• Across three surveys conducted between 2011 and 2015, 8% of Americans reported having recently changed their opinion about global warming.
• Certain demographic groups were more likely to report a change in opinion: Democrats (10%) compared to Independents (6%), women (10%) compared to men (6%), and older adults aged 65 and over (11%) compared to young adults aged 18 to 24 (6%).
• Of the respondents who expressed a clear direction of change in their level of concern, 84% became more concerned, while 16% became less concerned.
• The most frequent reasons cited by those who became more concerned were direct experience of climate change impacts, hearing about such impacts, becoming more informed, or deciding to take the issue more seriously.
• Individuals who became less concerned about global warming primarily attributed their change in opinion to the belief that global warming is a hoax or a natural process not caused by humans.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2019). Who is changing their mind about global warming and why? https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-is-changing-their-mind-about-global-warming-and-why/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Who is changing their mind about global warming and why? 2019. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-is-changing-their-mind-about-global-warming-and-why/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Who is changing their mind about global warming and why? |date=8 January 2019 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-is-changing-their-mind-about-global-warming-and-why/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2019who, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Who is changing their mind about global warming and why?}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-is-changing-their-mind-about-global-warming-and-why/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }