Do younger generations care more about global warming?

The report analyzes data from 2017 to 2019 to determine if younger Americans are more concerned and engaged with global warming than older generations. It finds that while Millennial Republicans are more likely to accept climate science and worry about global warming than older Republicans—reducing the political divide among youth—actual civic engagement, such as contacting government officials, remains similar across most generations. However, younger generations rank global warming higher as a priority for the 2020 Presidential election than older adults.

• There is a generational gap in climate concern, with 70% of adults aged 18 to 34 worrying about global warming compared to 56% of those aged 55 or older.
• Political polarization regarding global warming is lower among Millennials than older generations, specifically because Millennial Republicans are more likely than older Republicans to believe global warming is happening, is human-caused, and is agreed upon by most scientists.
• While younger generations are more likely to view global warming as personally important or express a willingness to engage in activism, actual behavior in contacting government officials is similar across most cohorts: 13% of Millennials, 12% of Baby Boomers, and 10% of the Silent Generation reported doing so, while only 8% of Generation X did.
• Younger generations rank global warming higher as a priority for their voting decisions in the 2020 Presidential election than older generations, although similar proportions across all generations describe it as "very important."

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2019). Do younger generations care more about global warming? https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-younger-generations-care-more-about-global-warming/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Do younger generations care more about global warming? 2019. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-younger-generations-care-more-about-global-warming/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Do younger generations care more about global warming? |date=11 June 2019 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-younger-generations-care-more-about-global-warming/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2019younger, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Do younger generations care more about global warming?}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-younger-generations-care-more-about-global-warming/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }