Climate Change in the American Mind

The October 2017 survey indicates an upward trend in American concern about global warming, with 71% believing it is happening and 47% feeling certain of it. While 54% attribute it to human activity, only 15% are aware of the strong scientific consensus. Emotional responses are predominantly negative, with 55% feeling disgusted and 52% feeling helpless. Perceived risks are at record highs, with 44% reporting personal experience of its effects and 42% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now." Despite this, optimism for a human-led solution remains low, with only 5% confident that humans can and will successfully reduce global warming.

• A majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring, with 71% stating it is happening and 47% expressing they are "extremely" or "very" sure of this fact, the latter being the highest level of certainty since 2008.
• While 54% of Americans believe global warming is mostly human-caused, there is a significant gap in understanding the scientific consensus; only 15% know that more than 90% of climate scientists are convinced of human-caused global warming.
• Emotional responses to global warming are largely negative: 63% of Americans are at least "somewhat worried," 55% feel "disgusted," and 52% feel "helpless."
• Personal experience and perceived immediate harm are increasing, with 44% of Americans reporting they have personally experienced the effects of global warming and 42% believing people in the U.S. are being harmed "right now."
• There is low confidence in the ability of humans to successfully mitigate global warming; only 5% believe humans can and will succeed, while 48% are unsure if necessary actions will be taken and 25% believe people are unwilling to change behavior.
• Americans primarily conceptualize global warming as an environmental (78%) and scientific (71%) issue, and to a lesser extent as an agricultural (66%), severe weather (65%), health (62%), economic (60%), or political (60%) issue.
• A majority of Americans link global warming to U.S. weather and specific 2017 extreme events, including heat waves in California (55%) and Arizona (51%), hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (54%), and western U.S. wildfires (52%).

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2017). Climate Change in the American Mind. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/11/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Mind. 2017. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/11/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Mind |date=October 2017 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/11/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2017climate, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/11/Climate-Change-American-Mind-October-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }