Dear Friends, 

In 2009, we identified six distinct climate opinion audiences within the American public – the Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive – Global Warming’s Six Americas. The Alarmed are the most engaged with global warming: they are convinced it is happening and human-caused, are very worried about it, and strongly support climate action. The Concerned are also convinced global warming is happening and human-caused, but they worry about it less and are less motivated to take action. The Cautious are uncertain about whether or not global warming is happening and human-caused, and are not very worried about it, so they are less motivated to act. The Disengaged are largely unaware of global warming. The Doubtful question whether global warming is happening or human-caused, and perceive it as a low risk, so they are among the least motivated to act. The Dismissive reject the idea that global warming is happening and human-caused, do not view it as a threat, and tend to strongly oppose climate policies.

Most recently, about 1 in 4 (26%) Americans are Alarmed. They outnumber the Dismissive (11%) by more than 2 to 1. Since our last Six Americas report, the Alarmed segment has decreased by 7 percentage points (from 33% in September 2021), however, the majority of Americans (53%) are still either Alarmed or Concerned, while fewer than half that number (22%) are either Doubtful or Dismissive.