Poll: Climate change a concern for two-thirds of Americans - NewsNation Now
Poll: Climate change a concern for two-thirds of Americans
( NewsNation) — A majority of Americans believe climate change will have a negative impact on the world in their lifetime, according to a new poll.
The Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday shows two-thirds of Americans (67%) are either very concerned (42%) or somewhat concerned (25%) about climate change.
Fifty-five percent of Americans think climate change is going to have a significant negative effect on the world in their lifetime.
“Searing heat, devastating flooding, choking smoke. Americans are enduring a summer of weather-related
calamities, with no age group more concerned than the youngest Americans,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in the survey release.
Seventy-two percent of respondents age 18-34 said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about climate change.
Additionally, six in ten Americans think extreme weather events in the United States over the past few years are related to climate change, while 34% do not think they are related.
However, a majority of Americans (53%) are not worried that someone in their family might be affected by an extreme weather event.
The past nine years have been the warmest since modern record-keeping began and 2024 could be even warmer, according to NASA officials who are working to slow the effects of climate change.
Roughly a third of Americans (32%) are not concerned about climate change, according to the Quinnipiac poll.
NewsNation digital producer Katie Smith contributed to this report.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”