Concern About Global Warming Among Americans Spikes, Report Says

A home burns during the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., in November 2018. It was one of several fires often discussed in terms of the changing climate. A new survey shows a jump in the number of Americans who are “very worried” about global warming.

Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images

In 2018, Americans watched as California towns were incinerated by fires, hurricanes devastated coastal communities and a government report sounded the alarm about the impacts of a changing climate.

All those factors contributed to significant changes in perceptions of global warming in the U.S., according to the authors of a new public opinion survey.

The proportion of Americans who said global warming is “personally important” to them jumped from 63 percent to 72 percent from March to December of last year.