Almost three in four Americans think that global warming is happening, about six in 10 understand that it is mostly owing to human activity, and almost six in 10 know that most scientists think that global warming is happening. Those were among the key findings of "Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2024" (PDF).
Presented with a definition of global warming as "the idea that the world's average temperature has been increasing over the past 150 years, may be increasing more in the future, and that the world's climate may change as a result" and asked whether they thought that global warming is happening, 73% of respondents said yes, 14% said no, and 14% indicated that they didn't know.
Asked about the cause of global warming, on the assumption that it is happening, 60% of respondents said that it is caused mostly by human activities, 28% said that it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment, 6% opted for "neither because global warming isn't happening," and 6% offered a different opinion.
Asked to indicate which is closest to their own view, 57% of respondents chose "Most scientists think global warming is happening," while 21% chose "There is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening," 3% chose "Most scientists think global warming is not happening," and 19% indicated that they didn't know enough to say.
The study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. The survey was administered in a web-based environment from December 11 to December 22, 2024, using an on-line research panel of 1013 American adults.
According to the report, the sample "includes a representative cross-section of American adults — irrespective of whether they have Internet access, use only a cell phone, etc. Key demographic variables were weighted, post survey, to match U.S. Census Bureau norms." The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3% at the 95% confidence level.
