A new report from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication offers new data on American registered voters' beliefs and attitudes about climate change, with a particular emphasis on the influence of political views.
Asked "Do you think that global warming is happening?" 75% of respondents — the highest level reported in the history of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's polling — answered yes, 11% answered no, and 14% answered don't know. According to the report, those answering yes included "98% of liberal Democrats, 92% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 69% of liberal/moderate Republicans. Fewer conservative Republicans (47%) think that global warming is happening."
Presented with "Assuming global warming is happening, do you think it is ..." and asked to complete the sentence, 61% of respondents preferred "Caused mostly by human activities," 29% preferred "Caused mostly by natural changes in the environment," 5% volunteered "Caused by both human activities and natural changes," and 4% preferred "Neither of the above because global warming isn't happening." Opinion was politically divided, with a large majority of Democrats but a minority of Republicans accepting human responsibility.
The data were "based on a nationally representative survey of 1,029 American adults, aged 18 and older, 911 of whom are registered to vote. The survey was conducted April 7-17, 2020. All questionnaires were self-administered by respondents in a web-based environment."
