Fact Sheet | Polling the American Public on Climate Change (2014) | White Papers

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This fact sheet provides information on climate change polling in the United States over the last year from a variety of sources. Overall, the studies show:

Belief that climate change is happening and is caused by human actions is continuing to rise, but it still has not reached a level comparable to the 2007 peak
There is a large disparity among party lines when it comes to climate change, with a large majority of Democrats believing that human actions are changing the climate, while fewer Republicans hold the same belief
However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed carbon dioxide regulations for power plants have widespread support, even across party lines
There is also support for somewhat higher electricity bills if it means decreasing carbon dioxide pollution

Climate Change Surveys 2013 to 2014

CBS News/New York Times September 10-14, 2014 Sample: 1,000 American adults

54% of Americans said global warming is happening, and caused by human behavior; 31% said global warming is happening because of natural causes
42% said global warming is an “imminent threat”
61% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans said global warming is having impacts right now

Pew Research/USA Today August 20-24, 2014 Sample: 1,501 American adults

48% of those surveyed said climate change is a “major threat” to the United States; 30% said it was a “minor threat”
68% of registered Democrats view climate change as one of the greatest threats to the United States, compared to 25% of Republicans

Quinnipiac University June 24-30, 2014 Sample: 1,446 registered American voters

58% of voters support federal government limitations on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
30% of voters do not support federal government limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants

NBC News/Wall Street Journal June 11-15, 2014 Sample: 1,000 American adults

67% of Americans support the carbon regulations proposed by President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
31% of Americans believe immediate action should be taken to combat climate change
57% approve of a proposal that would curb greenhouse gas emissions from companies, even if it leads to higher energy bills

Bloomberg National Poll June 6-9, 2014 Sample: 1,005 American adults

46% of Americans said climate change is a major threat
50% of Americans think climate action should be taken in the next 10 years
51% said that a candidate's support for climate action would make them more likely to vote for them

Resources for the Future/Stanford University June 4-8, 2014 Sample: 1,023 American adults

73% of Americans believe the world’s temperature is increasing, and 33% believe that warming is caused by human action
Nearly 90% of Americans favor government action to address climate change, and only 27% believe such action will harm the economy
49% of respondents said there should be laws requiring power plants to lower greenhouse gas emissions

ABC News/Washington Post May 29-June 1, 2014 Sample: 1,002 American adults

84% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans see climate change as a serious problem
70% of respondents support the EPA’s new proposed regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants
63% of Americans would support carbon reductions even if it led to an increase in their energy costs

CBS May 16-19, 2014 Sample: 1,009 American adults

46% of respondents believe global climate change is a serious problem that is currently having an impact
49% believe that global warming is mostly caused by the human activity of burning fossil fuels
32% are very concerned about global warming, while 34% are somewhat concerned

Public Religion Research Institute/Brookings April 7-27, 2014 Sample: 1,538 adults

23% of affiliated Democrats believe that enacting policies to address climate change should be the highest priority for President Obama and Congress
6% of Republicans think that climate policies should be the highest priority
18% of Americans as a whole say climate change should be the highest political priority

University of Michigan March 24-April 9, 2014 Sample: 798 American adults

After this past winter, one third of respondents said they don’t believe in global warming
56% of Americans who don’t believe in evidence of global warming said that their own weather observations are a main factor
15% believe that milder winters have a ‘very large’ influence on their acceptance of global warming, while 24% say milder winters have a ‘somewhat’ large influence on their opinion
55% of Americans believe there is solid evidence for climate change, a 6% decline since fall 2013

Yale and Harvard Universities April/May, 2014 Sample: 1,800 Americans

75% of Democrats believe that global warming is caused by humans, while 58% of Republicans did not believe there was solid evidence that warming was occurring
Very liberal or strong Democrats are much more likely to believe that global warming poses a very high risk to human health and safety, while strong Republicans are more likely to believe that it poses no risk at all

Yale and George Mason University April 11-21, 2014 Sample: 1,013 American adults

52% of Americans think global warming, if it is happening, is caused by humans
55% of Americans are “somewhat worried” about climate change; 15% are “very worried”
16% of Americans say thousands of people worldwide are dying annually from global warming
6% think humans can and will reduce global warming; 42% think humans could reduce global warming, but whether we will or not is unclear

The AP-GfK March 20-24, 2014 Sample: 1,012 American Adults

33% of Americans are extremely or very confident that the temperature of the world is rising because of man-made heat trapping gases
15% are not at all confident that the temperature is rising because of the burning of greenhouse gases

Harris March 12-17, 2014 Sample: 2,234 American adults

45% of Americans believe that climate change exists and that humans are mainly responsible for it
30% believe climate change is happening, but that it is not mainly related to human activity
13% do not believe that climate change exists
31% think the severity of the 2013/2014 winter is proof that climate change is not happening

Gallup March 6-9, 2014 Sample: 1,048 American adults

65% of Americans support setting stricter emissions and pollution standards on industry and businesses
63% support setting mandatory carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) limits
However, both of these numbers have gone down significantly since 2007, when 84% supported stricter emissions and pollution standards on industry and 79% supported mandatory CO2 and GHG limits

Gallup March 6-9, 2014 Sample: 1,048 American adults

39% of Americans are “Concerned Believers,” meaning they believe global warming is happening, and is caused by humans
36% of Americans are “Mixed Middle,” signifying they hold a combination of views
25% of Americans are “Cool Skeptics,” which means they are not worried much about global warming

Gallup March 6-9, 2014 Sample: 513 American adults

24% of those polled said they worry about climate change a great deal, while 31% worry about the quality of the environment
36% of Democrats worry about the issue of climate change a great deal, while 10% of Republicans worry about it a great deal

Pew Research Center January 15-19, 2014 Sample: 1,504 American adults

29% of Americans viewed climate change as a "top priority" for President Obama and Congress this year, ranking 19th out of 20 issues tested
42% of Democrats view “dealing with global warming” as a “top priority”
49% of Americans view protecting the environment as a “top priority,” ranking 12th out of 20

Yale and George Mason Universities Nov. 23–Dec. 9, 2013 Sample: 830 American adults

37% of Americans (almost four in ten) think global warming should be a high priority for the President and Congress, and 71% say it should be a medium priority
60% of Americans said the United States should reduce greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of other countries’ actions
83% of Americans say the U.S. should act on global warming, even if there are economic costs

Yale and George Mason Universities Nov. 23–Dec. 9, 2013 Sample: 830 American adults

38% of those surveyed believe they will be personally harmed by climate change, 65% believe future generations will be harmed, and 65% believe plant and animal species will be harmed
63% of Americans believe climate change is happening, while 23% of Americans don’t believe it is
The percentage of Americans who were previously ‘unsure’ about climate change has dropped from 20% in Spring 2013, to 14% in Fall 2013
42% of Americans felt ‘hopeful’ when thinking about climate change, while 42% said they felt helpless, 42% felt disgusted and 40% felt sad

USA Today Nov. 20 – Dec. 5, 2013 Sample: 801 American adults

Three in five Americans see global warming as a serious problem, with two in three Americans believing it will have lasting negative effects on future generations
71% of Americans say they can see the physical effects of global warming
28% of Americans believe that global warming made the damage from Superstorm Sandy ‘much worse,’ although 41% of Americans believe global warming did not impact Sandy
55% of Americans support regulations on power plant greenhouse gas emissions

National Resources Defense Council Nov. 25- Dec. 4, 2013 Sample: 850 Latino Americans

Nine in ten Latinos want the government to take action on climate change
68% of Republican Latinos say it is important (and 46% say very or extremely important) for the U.S. government to take action on climate change
86% of Latinos support limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants

Pew Research Center October 9-13, 2013 Sample 1,504 American adults

Two thirds (67%) of the American public say there is “solid evidence” of climate change
44% of Americans say there is both “solid evidence” for climate change and it is caused by human activity; 18% believe climate change is naturally occurring
66% of Democrats, 24% of Republicans, and 43% of Independents say climate change is happening, and is caused by human activity

Huffington Post/YouGov June 19-20, 2013 Sample: 1,000 American adults

33% of Americans approve of how the president is handling the issue of climate change, while 40% disapprove of the president’s handling of climate change
63% of Democrats approve of Obama’s work on climate change, along with 27% of independents and 6% of Republicans
47% of Americans said they approve of new climate change policies, while 32% oppose them.

Yale and George Mason Universities April 8–15, 2013 Sample: 1,045 American adults

Two thirds (63%) of Americans surveyed said they believe climate change is happening – a 7% drop since Fall 2012
51% of those surveyed are ‘somewhat worried’ or ‘very worried’ about climate change, also a 7 percent drop from Fall 2012
Four out of ten Americans are worried about climate change affecting their community (45%), their family (44%), or themselves (42%)

Authors: Katherine Lynn and Emily Jackson

Editor: Laura Small - [email protected]