Around half of Americans say that they’ve personally been impacted by climate change, and three in five expect that they’ll be impacted in their lifetimes. 60% of Americans recognize that the world’s climate is changing as the result of human activity, while 24% say that the world’s climate is changing due to natural causes and just 6% deny that the climate is changing. A slight majority (52%) say that they’ve felt the impacts of climate change in their own lives, which is consistent with other public polling as around half the country typically reports having direct experience with climate change. A larger majority (62%) say that they expect to feel the impacts of climate change within their lifetimes. Around three in five Americans (62%) say that climate change is at least “somewhat” responsible for the extent of recent wildfires, including nine in ten Democrats (90%) and the majority of independents (56%) but less than half of Republicans (43%).

Most Americans expect more extreme weather and rising global temperatures in 2025, though the U.S. public still lags behind comparable countries in predicting climate change impacts. Around two-thirds of Americans say that average global temperatures are likely to increase in 2025 (67%) and that there will likely be more extreme weather events in the U.S. in 2025 than there were in 2024 (66%). 80% of people say that global temperatures are likely to increase this year. This average is 13 points higher than in the U.S. (67%), which ranked the second-lowest of any country surveyed in its beliefs about rising global temperatures. Additionally, the cross-country average of people expecting more extreme weather in their country this year is six points higher (72%) than in the U.S. (66%). That said, Americans’ beliefs that extreme weather will get worse in their country this year are roughly on par with comparable nations such as Great Britain (70%), Canada (68%), and Germany (63%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ policy positions on energy and environmental issues, new polling on Americans’ beliefs about the presidential candidates’ stances on energy and the environment, new polling and message testing about the recent hurricanes and disinformation, and a new large-scale survey of young Americans’ climate beliefs.

Following recent hurricanes, voters support a “climate superfund” bill that would help address climate change impacts and increase funding for FEMA. 70% of voters support a “climate superfund” bill after reading a brief description of it. While voters are nearly twice as likely to say that they feel favorably than unfavorably about FEMA’s response to the recent hurricanes (60% favorable / 32% unfavorable), there is a deep partisan split here as well. More than four in five Democrats (84%) and half of independents (52%) have a positive view of FEMA’s response, while most Republicans rate FEMA’s response negatively (39% favorable / 57% unfavorable). Just over half of voters (51%) say that FEMA’s funding should be increased, while 28% say that its funding should be kept the same and just 12% want to reduce funding for the agency.

Voters across party lines support FEMA but believe that the federal government could do more to help with disaster relief in general. Just under half of voters (49%) say that the increasing frequency and strength of hurricanes in the U.S. is primarily the result of climate change. Meanwhile, four in ten (42%) say that hurricanes are becoming more frequent and severe because of natural changes in the environment. Democrats overwhelmingly blame climate change for the increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes in the U.S. (71%) and Republicans overwhelmingly blame natural changes in the environment (67%). Around two-thirds of voters have favorable opinions of FEMA (67% favorable / 19% unfavorable), including majorities of Democrats (76%) and Republicans (60%). Still, slightly more than half of voters (52%)–including a plurality of Democrats (47%) and the majority of Republicans (57%)–say that the federal government is not providing enough support to Americans for disaster relief.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on polluter accountability and new polls of Black voters and young Americans.

Water pollution is a common concern for Gen Z Americans, and around one-third worry that they will lack clean water and will need to move because of climate change. Majorities of Gen Zers say that they worry “some” or “a great deal” about each of the following: pollution of lakes, rivers and oceans – 72%, including 60% of voting-age Republicans; the health of fish and oceans – 66%, including 59% of voting-age Republicans; the availability of clean drinking water – 57%, including 39% of voting-age Republicans. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of Gen Z Americans (74%) – including 88% of voting-age Democrats and 65% of voting-age Republicans – agree that it’s “very important” to protect oceans, lakes, and rivers from pollution. Around one-third (31%) believe that their generation will “definitely” or “probably” not have enough clean water in the future to live, and 36% are at least “somewhat” concerned that they will have to move from their current town or city because of climate change.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including polling on support for the Inflation Reduction Act, plastic pollution regulation, solar energy policies, and concern about climate impacts.

Providing a better life for future generations is consistently voters’ top rationale for addressing global warming. Preventing extreme weather has also become a more salient reason in recent years. Nearly half of voters (47%) say that providing “a better life for our children and grandchildren” is one of the most important reasons to reduce global warming, more than any other rationale tested in their polling. In Yale and GMU’s polls going back to 2017, providing a better life for future generations has consistently ranked as the top rationale for action among voters overall, among Democrats, and among Republicans. Extreme weather is rising as a rationale for climate action after several historic years of extreme heat and weather disasters. Yale and GMU find that “preventing extreme weather events” (37%) is now tied with “preventing the destruction of most life on the planet” (37%) as the next-most compelling rationale for climate action after “providing a better life for future generations.” Helping to prevent extreme weather has risen in salience over the past several years. Voters are nine points more likely to rate it among the top rationales for climate action now (37%) than they were in 2017 (28%), and it has increased as a rationale among both Democrats and Republicans over that period.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including lots of new polling on climate and the environment as issues in this year’s election, new polling of Latino voters, new polling about conservation in the states that touch the Mississippi River, and new polling about clean energy infrastructure siting in California.