Poll: Westerners are most likely to have felt climate change

More than half of Americans in the West say they have personally felt the impact of climate change, the highest percentage of any region. The percentage in the West has risen nine points since early January, the last time this question was asked. A majority nationally (and 64% in the West) say they expect to feel the impact of climate change sometime in their lifetime.

Overall, 59% of Americans think the world’s climate is changing as a result of human activity. Somewhat significantly, the percent of Republicans agreeing that humans are responsible has jumped 11 points since January.

Americans are evenly divided as to whether recent weather events been due to climate change, and party differences dominate. By three to one, Democrats think recent severe weather can be blamed on climate change, but by an even greater margin, Republicans say they cannot. There are big differences between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to caring about climate change. 57% of Democrats are “very concerned” about climate change, while just 9% of Republicans are.