This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans' beliefs about climate impacts in their areas and lifetimes and partisan polarization about beliefs about climate impacts.

HEADLINES

USA Today + Ipsos
Most Americans say that they’ve grown more concerned about climate change in recent years, as majorities say that extreme heat and unusual weather have become more frequent where they live [Article, Poll Release]

The Economist + YouGov
Half of Americans say that they’ve personally been impacted by climate change, but there are wide partisan differences in people’s perceived experiences with climate change and their interpretations of extreme weather events [Topline, Crosstabs]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Extreme heat continues to rank as the most salient day-to-day impact of climate change. Polling in recent years has shown that extreme heat is the most powerful example of the impacts of climate change on Americans’ day-to-day lives: more than any other type of extreme weather, Americans tend to say that extreme heat has affected them personally and is driven by climate change. Newly released polling by USA Today and Ipsos provides further evidence of extreme heat’s salience, as extreme heat ranks above any other type of weather event when Americans are asked which kinds of extreme weather they’ve recently experienced, which kinds of extreme weather have become more frequent in their area, and which kinds of extreme weather have become more intense where they live.

Perceptions of the weather continue to diverge along partisan lines. Polls by USA Today and Ipsos and by The Economist and YouGov both demonstrate how partisanship colors Americans’ perceptions of the weather. USA Today and Ipsos find that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that various types of extreme weather events have become both more frequent and more intense where they live - including hot weather events, cold weather events, extremely wet weather, and extremely dry weather. Partisanship also shapes how people interpret new extreme weather events like Hurricane Idalia, as The Economist and YouGov find that Democrats are several times more likely than Republicans to say that climate change is a major factor behind recent hurricanes.

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

[Climate Change] 69% of Americans say that they’re concerned about climate change [USA Today + Ipsos]
[Extreme Weather] 68% of Americans recognize that extreme weather events will become more frequent in the near future [USA Today + Ipsos]
[Climate Change] 54% of Americans recognize that the world’s climate is changing as a result of human activity [The Economist + YouGov]
[Climate Change] 53% of Americans say that they’ve become more concerned about climate change in the past few years, while only 10% say that they’ve become less concerned [USA Today + Ipsos]
[Issue Priority] More Americans name climate change and the environment as the single “most important issue” to them than any other issue aside from inflation/prices, health care, and the economy/jobs [The Economist + YouGov]