Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes

The Spring 2023 survey of 1,011 American adults reveals that a strong majority believe global warming is happening and is mostly human-caused. While worry and perceived risks are high—with many reporting personal experience of its effects—social engagement remains low, as most respondents rarely discuss the issue with family and friends. Despite this, a majority feel a personal responsibility to help and reject fatalism, disagreeing that it is too late to take action.

• A significant majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring, with those who think it is happening outnumbering those who do not by nearly 5 to 1 (74% vs 15%). When including those who 'lean' toward a yes answer, the total reaches 82%.
• Most Americans attribute global warming to human activity, with 61% stating it is mostly human-caused, compared to 28% who attribute it to natural environmental changes.
• There is a gap in public understanding regarding the strength of scientific consensus; while 58% know most scientists believe global warming is happening, only 20% recognize that more than 90% of climate scientists hold this view.
• Perceived risks are high, with 48% of Americans believing people in the U.S. are being harmed by global warming 'right now' and 44% reporting they have personally experienced its effects.
• Americans perceive the greatest harm from global warming to be affecting future generations (71%), plant and animal species (70%), the world's poor (69%), and people in developing countries (68%).
• Social engagement with the topic is limited; 66% of Americans say they 'rarely' or 'never' discuss global warming with family and friends, and only 23% hear people they know talk about it at least once a month.
• A majority of Americans (62%) feel a personal responsibility to help reduce global warming, and 65% consider the issue personally important.
• Fatalism is relatively low, as 66% of respondents disagree that it is already too late to do anything about global warming, and 57% disagree that individual actions make no difference.
• Most Americans believe global warming is affecting U.S. weather (65%) and various environmental problems, most notably extreme heat (75%), rising sea levels (72%), wildfires (71%), and droughts (71%).
• Local risk perception is significant, with 56% of Americans believing extreme weather poses a high or moderate risk to their community over the next 10 years.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2023). Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/09/climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2023.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes. 2023. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/09/climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes |date=2023 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/09/climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2023climate, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs \& Attitudes}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/09/climate-change-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }