Biggest Threat from Global Warming

The report identifies 'Weather extremes and changes' as the most common perceived threat of global warming among Americans, while also highlighting significant ideological divides in how different political groups and psychological segments perceive these risks.

• The most frequently cited threat of global warming among Americans is 'Weather extremes and changes', mentioned by 20% of respondents. This category encompasses seasonal shifts, changing weather patterns, and specific events such as floods, hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures.
• Other identified threats include 'Global warming is not a threat' (7%), 'Pollution' (6%), 'Other' (6%), 'Don’t know' (6%), 'Environmental harms' (5%), 'Food and water shortages' (4%), 'Action' (4%), 'Economic and social changes' (4%), 'Health harms' (3%), and 'Inaction' (2%).
• Perceptions of climate threats vary significantly by political party: 30% of Democrats identified weather extremes and changes as the greatest threat compared to 10% of Republicans. Conversely, Republicans were more likely to state that global warming is not a threat (16% vs 0% of Democrats) or that the actions taken to address it are the greatest threat (9% vs 0% of Democrats).
• Analysis using the 'Six Americas' spectrum shows that the 'Alarmed and Concerned' groups are most likely to cite weather extremes and changes as the primary threat, while the 'Doubtful and Dismissive' groups are most likely to claim global warming is not a threat.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2023). Biggest Threat from Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/biggest-threat-from-global-warming/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Biggest Threat from Global Warming. 2023. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/biggest-threat-from-global-warming/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Biggest Threat from Global Warming |date=18 October 2023 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/biggest-threat-from-global-warming/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2023biggest, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Biggest Threat from Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/biggest-threat-from-global-warming/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }