Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming

The report finds that while a majority of Americans believe global warming is bad for health, very few can identify specific health risks or recognize that certain populations are more vulnerable. There is significant support for increased government action and funding to protect public health, with primary-care doctors and the CDC being the most trusted sources of information.

• Most Americans have not given significant thought to how global warming affects health; 61% reported giving the issue "little or no thought," while only 10% said they had given it a "great deal" of thought.
• There is a low level of awareness regarding specific current health impacts. Only 27% of respondents named at least one health problem, with respiratory issues (14%) and extreme weather-related illness or death (6%) being the most cited. A majority (43%) did not answer the open-ended question about current health problems.
• Public understanding of vulnerability is limited; only 33% correctly identified that some groups are more likely than others to experience health problems from global warming. Very few identified specific high-risk groups, such as the elderly (8%) or the poor (7%).
• Americans generally perceive a greater health threat in the future than in the present. While 31% believe global warming is currently harming U.S. health to a "great deal" or "moderate amount," 39% believe it will do so over the next five to 10 years.
• Awareness of global health impacts is very low. A plurality of respondents were unsure about the number of people worldwide injured or killed by global warming, and between 21% and 33% believe no one suffers health consequences globally, either now or in the future.
• There is substantial public support for increased government intervention. Nearly half of Americans believe federal agencies like the CDC, NIH, or FEMA (47%), the U.S. Congress (46%), and state governments (44%) should do more to protect people from health problems related to global warming.
• Primary-care doctors are the most trusted source of information on global warming-related health problems (49%), followed by family/friends (41%) and the CDC (41%). Conversely, religious and military leaders are the least trusted.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2014). Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/12/Global-Warming-Public-Health-October_2014_FINAL-1.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming. 2014. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/12/Global-Warming-Public-Health-October_2014_FINAL-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming |date=October 2014 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/12/Global-Warming-Public-Health-October_2014_FINAL-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2014public, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/12/Global-Warming-Public-Health-October_2014_FINAL-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }