Poll: Amid heat wave, more Americans say climate change has 'made things worse' in their lives

Andrew Romano
·National Correspondent
·4 min read
2.3k
National Park Service rangers pose next to an unofficial heat reading of 132F in Death Valley National Park.
National Park Service rangers pose next to an unofficial heat reading in Death Valley National Park in California on July 16. (Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

As blistering heat waves, fatal floods or toxic wildfire smoke afflict nearly every corner of the U.S. this summer, a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds that a growing number of Americans say climate change has “made things worse” in their lives — and will continue to do so in the future.

The survey of 1,638 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 13 to 17, shows that more than a third (34%) now believe they have already been personally affected in a negative way by climate change, up 7 points from October 2021 (the last time Yahoo News and YouGov asked the question). Likewise, 47% of Americans — a 5-point increase — now say their own lives will get worse in years to come because of the warming planet.

And while nearly half of U.S. adults (48%) say climate change has not personally affected them yet, just 30% say it will make “no difference” to them in the future.

It’s worth noting that much of the shift in perceptions of how climate change has “made things worse” in “your life so far” has been concentrated among younger adults, who have gone from being the least likely age group to cite a negative effect in 2021 to the most likely group today:

  • Age 18-29: up 17 points, from 20% to 37%

  • Age 30-34: up 9 points, from 24% to 33%

  • Age 45-64: up 4 points, from 27% to 31%

  • Age 65+: down 1 point, from 35% to 34%

The pervasiveness of this summer’s extreme weather seems to have influenced views. Two years ago, in July 2021, 54% of Americans said yes when asked if they had “noticed more extreme weather events (heat waves, fires, storms, etc.) where you live.” Today, 57% say yes. A 13-point jump among the youngest adults (from 47% to 60%) again accounts for most of the change.

Despite the continuing politicization of climate issues, most Americans now accept that climate change is “contributing to extreme weather events.” When one half of respondents were asked if that is the case regarding the ongoing “heat wave across the Southwest,” 55% said yes; when the other half were asked if the same is true about the “flooding this week in Vermont,” nearly as many (52%) answered in the affirmative — even though flash floods could be considered a less obvious side effect of global warming than hot temperatures. (Hotter air contains more moisture, leading to heavier rains.)

Overall, nearly 8 in 10 Americans agree that Earth’s climate is changing, with 54% saying it’s changing “as a result of human activity” and just 25% saying human activity isn’t responsible. Only 8% of Americans refuse to accept that the climate is changing.

On a similar note, 56% of adults describe climate change as “an established scientific fact," and even more (61%) say they are at least somewhat worried about it. A full 30% say they are “very worried” — including 65% of those who say climate change has already “made things worse” in their lives. Additionally, 17% of Americans who say climate change has already made their lives worse also name it as their most important issue when thinking about next year’s election — just behind inflation and democracy (20% each) and far ahead of the 3% of all other Americans who say climate change is the most important election issue for them.

This probably reflects the fact that people tend to care more about climate change after they’ve been personally affected — and perhaps also suggests that Americans who already care most about the issue are more likely to realize that it's exacerbating whatever extreme weather they experience.

At the moment, nearly half of all voters (48%) describe climate change as “an existential threat that must be addressed now with major legislation,” while fewer dismiss it as either “not a real threat” (27%) or “a threat the government has already done enough to address” (13%).

But the parties remain divided on whether the U.S. should take urgent action. Just 12% of voters who cast their ballot for Donald Trump in 2020 want major legislation; among 2020 Joe Biden voters, that number is 82%.

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The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,638 U.S. adults interviewed online from July 13 to 17, 2023. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to March 15, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (32% Democratic, 27% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.7%.