Issue: Climate Impacts

Americans who have experienced extreme weather say that it has made them more concerned about climate change. 46% of Americans say that the area where they live has experienced more extreme weather related events in recent years. Within this 46% segment, the clear majority (62%) say that their personal experience with extreme weather has made them more concerned about climate change. Self-identified Democrats (66%) are far more likely than self-identified Republicans (30%) to report that their area is experiencing more extreme weather. And among those who say that their area has experienced more extreme weather, Democrats (74%) are considerably more likely than independents (58%) or Republicans (37%) to say that their personal experience with extreme weather has made them more concerned about climate change. Republicans who say that their area has experienced more extreme weather are more than twice as likely to say that climate change needs to be addressed “now” or “soon” (62%) than Republicans who say that they haven’t experienced more extreme weather (29%).

One in three Americans say they have personally been affected by an extreme weather event since 2020. A recent Gallup poll found this, reflecting a period that included a paralyzing ice storm in Texas, one of the largest wildfires in California’s history and a powerful storm that killed dozens of people in the New York region. The most common answer given about specific type of extreme weather was extreme cold. People in the South and West said they were most likely to have experienced extreme heat. Beliefs about climate change were linked with claims about being affected by extreme weather: 63% of those who had been affected by extreme weather said they worried “a great deal” about global warming, compared with 33% who had not been affected by extreme weather. In 2021, climate disasters caused a combined $145 billion in damages and at least 688 deaths, according to NOAA. This survey was conducted in March 2022 of 1,000 Americans living in all 50 states.