Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012

A March 2012 survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 66% of Americans believe global warming is occurring, though belief that it is human-caused dropped to 46%. The public overestimated the level of disbelief in global warming, and trust in political figures varied significantly, with 47% trusting President Obama and 21% trusting Mitt Romney as information sources.

• In March 2012, 66% of Americans believed global warming was happening, representing a 3% increase from November 2011. However, the percentage of people who attributed global warming to human activities fell from 50% to 46%.
• There is a gap between actual and perceived disbelief in global warming in the United States; while only 14% of respondents stated they do not believe global warming is happening, they estimated that 21% of Americans hold that view.
• Trust in political figures as sources of global warming information differed sharply: 47% of respondents trusted President Obama, while only 21% trusted Mitt Romney. Trust in Romney declined by 5 points since November 2011, and "strong distrust" of him rose by 8 points to 39%.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2012). Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-march-2012/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012. 2012. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-march-2012/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012 |date=15 May 2012 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-march-2012/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2012americans, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2012}, month = may, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-march-2012/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }