Global Warming, God, and the “End Times”

The report finds that a minority of Americans view global warming through a religious lens, with 15% believing God controls the climate, 14% seeing it as a sign of the end times, and 11% believing the coming apocalypse removes the need to worry about climate change. These beliefs are most prevalent among Evangelical and Born-Again Christians, Conservative Republicans, and those with lower formal education.

• Approximately 15% of Americans believe that divine control of the climate precludes human-caused global warming, with 7% stating this is 'definitely' true and 9% stating it is 'probably' true.
• One in seven Americans (14%) interpret global warming as an indicator of the 'end times', consisting of 4% who say this is definitely the case and 10% who say it is probably so.
• About 11% of the surveyed population believe that the approach of the end times means there is no need to worry about global warming.
• Roughly 9% of Americans believe the apocalypse will occur within their own lifetime.
• Beliefs that God controls the climate or that the apocalypse is imminent are most common among specific demographic and political groups, including Tea Party members (38% for divine control), Evangelical and Born-Again Christians (ranging from 19% to 30% across the four categories), and Conservative Republicans.

APA

Roser-Renouf, C., Maibach, E., Leiserowitz, A., & Rosenthal, S. (2016). Global Warming, God, and the “End Times”. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/07/Global-Warming-God-and-the-End-Times.pdf

Chicago

Roser-Renouf, Connie, Edward Maibach, Anthony Leiserowitz, and Seth Rosenthal. Global Warming, God, and the “End Times”. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2016. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/07/Global-Warming-God-and-the-End-Times.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Roser-Renouf |first1=Connie |last2=Maibach |first2=Edward |last3=Leiserowitz |first3=Anthony |last4=Rosenthal |first4=Seth |title=Global Warming, God, and the “End Times” |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |date=2016 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/07/Global-Warming-God-and-the-End-Times.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{roserrenouf2016global, author = {Roser-Renouf, Connie and Maibach, Edward and Leiserowitz, Anthony and Rosenthal, Seth}, title = {{Global Warming, God, and the “End Times”}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2016}, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/07/Global-Warming-God-and-the-End-Times.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }