Americans are more worried about global warming but show signs of losing hope

The report finds that while more than six in ten Americans are worried about global warming in 2018, feelings of hope have declined since 2010. Hope is identified as a key driver for individual and political action. Despite this, the report highlights strong public support for renewable energy research, carbon taxes, and climate education, alongside the growth of the clean energy workforce and institutional commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement.

• Public worry about global warming has increased over time, with more than 60% of American adults reporting they are "very" or "somewhat" worried in 2018, compared to fewer than 50% in 2010.
• Feelings of hope regarding global warming have declined since 2010, when approximately 44% of the U.S. population felt "very" or "moderately" hopeful. This decline in hope and increase in worry coincided with the Trump Administration from 2017 onward.
• Hope is a significant predictor of constructive engagement; hopeful Americans are more likely to contact government officials, donate to environmental organizations, discuss global warming with family, and support policies such as regulating CO2 as a pollutant and funding renewable energy research.
• There is broad American support for specific climate policies: 85% support more research into renewable energy, 77% support regulating CO2 as a pollutant, 70% support strict CO2 limits on coal-fired power plants, and 68% support a carbon tax on fossil fuel companies.
• The clean energy industry in the U.S. employs approximately 3.2 million people as of 2018, with the solar industry employing four times more workers than the coal industry and the energy efficiency industry employing twice as many as the entire fossil fuel industry.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2018). Americans are more worried about global warming but show signs of losing hope. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-are-more-worried-about-global-warming-but-show-signs-of-losing-hope/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Americans are more worried about global warming but show signs of losing hope. 2018. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-are-more-worried-about-global-warming-but-show-signs-of-losing-hope/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Americans are more worried about global warming but show signs of losing hope |date=4 October 2018 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-are-more-worried-about-global-warming-but-show-signs-of-losing-hope/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2018americans, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Americans are more worried about global warming but show signs of losing hope}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-are-more-worried-about-global-warming-but-show-signs-of-losing-hope/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }