Public Resource
Poll: Americans are becoming more worried about extreme heat
Matthew Ballew, Jennifer Marlon, Seth Rosenthal, Jennifer Carman, John Kotcher, Edward Maibach and Anthony Leiserowitz. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Many Americans are worried about extreme heat and understand it is affected by climate change. In Spring 2023, this research found that most Americans (72%) are at least “a little” worried about extreme heat harming their local area – and extreme heat tops the list of worries about climate impacts (e.g., droughts, flooding, water shortages). Additionally, a large majority of Americans (75%) think that global warming is affecting extreme heat at least “a little,” including 42% who say global warming is affecting it “a lot.” Over the past five years, Americans have grown more worried that extreme heat might harm their local area, increasing +9 percentage points from 35% in March 2018 (13% “very;” 21% “moderately”) to 44% in April 2023 (21% “very;” 24% “moderately”). The percentage of Americans who are “very” worried about extreme heat harming their local area has also increased over time (+8 points).