Air Pollution Leads as a Health and Safety Concern: More Americans are concerned about air pollution (57%) than other climate change hazards. 50% of the survey respondents say severe storms spark concern. Despite heat being a leading cause of weather-related deaths, only 37% of respondents are concerned about heatwaves. While floods are the second deadliest weather-related climate impact, only 33% of Americans report concern.

Americans Need Help Making the Climate Connection: Over half of US survey respondents accurately associate heatwaves, severe storms, drought, wildfires, and floods with climate change. However, less than half associate air pollution — and less than a quarter associate seasonal allergies (22%), and the spread of disease-carrying insects (21%) — with climate change. Despite nearly 60% of respondents voicing concern about air pollution, only 46% associate it with climate change. As for heatwaves, over 3 in 5 (61%) Americans associate them with climate change — representing a 24-point gap compared to the expressed health and safety concerns