global warming’s six americas in october 2014: perceptions of the health consequences of global warming and update on key beliefs

The report finds that most Americans, including those most concerned about global warming, have a shallow understanding of its specific health impacts. While the 'Alarmed' and 'Concerned' segments generally believe global warming is harmful to health and support government action and funding, they struggle to name specific health threats unprompted. Trust in information sources varies by segment, with primary care physicians and family and friends holding the highest overall credibility across the population.

• The U.S. adult population is divided into six segments based on their beliefs and engagement with global warming: the Alarmed (13%), Concerned (31%), Cautious (23%), Disengaged (7%), Doubtful (13%), and Dismissive (13%).
• General awareness of the health impacts of global warming is low across all segments; even the Alarmed and Concerned segments show a shallow understanding when asked to name specific health problems without prompts.
• Lung diseases are the most frequently cited health impact of global warming, mentioned by 32% of the Alarmed and 23% of the Concerned in open-ended questions.
• There is a significant gap between the ability of respondents to name health threats unprompted versus their willingness to accept them when listed in closed-ended questions; for example, only 6% of the Alarmed named harm from extreme weather unprompted, but 28% estimated it would increase when prompted.
• Awareness of vulnerable populations is limited. While 66% of the Alarmed and 46% of the Concerned recognize that some groups are more vulnerable, only 22% of the Alarmed and 12% of the Concerned specifically identified poor, homeless, or uninsured people.
• The Alarmed and Concerned segments strongly support increased government effort and funding to protect public health from global warming, while the Dismissive segment largely opposes such efforts.
• Trust in information sources is highly segmented: the Alarmed and Concerned trust climate scientists and the CDC, while the Dismissive and Doubtful rely more on primary care doctors, family, and friends.
• Primary care physicians and family and friends are the most credible sources of information across all six segments, suggesting a potential 'two-step flow' of information from health organizations to doctors to patients.

APA

Roser-Renouf, C., Maibach, E., Leiserowitz, A., Feinberg, G., Rosenthal, S., & Kreslake, J. (2014). global warming’s six americas in october 2014: perceptions of the health consequences of global warming and update on key beliefs. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Six-Americas-October-2014.pdf

Chicago

Roser-Renouf, Connie, Edward Maibach, Anthony Leiserowitz, Geoff Feinberg, Seth Rosenthal, and Jennifer Kreslake. global warming’s six americas in october 2014: perceptions of the health consequences of global warming and update on key beliefs. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2014. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Six-Americas-October-2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{roserrenouf2014global, author = {Roser-Renouf, Connie and Maibach, Edward and Leiserowitz, Anthony and Feinberg, Geoff and Rosenthal, Seth and Kreslake, Jennifer}, title = {{global warming’s six americas in october 2014: perceptions of the health consequences of global warming and update on key beliefs}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Six-Americas-October-2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }