Climate Change in the American Mind: Fall 2023
Provided by: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication|Published on: May 24, 2024|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 11, 12, AP
Type: Scientific Reports
Subjects: Economics, Civics
Authors: Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Matthew Ballew, Jennifer Marlon, Sanguk Lee, Teresa Myers, Matthew Goldberg, Nicholas Badullovich, Kathryn Thier
Location: North America > United States
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This report explains the results of a 2023 survey asking voters about the economic and political implications of climate change.
- The survey asked questions about who is responsible for taking action, how important a candidate's intention to act on climate is, and how businesses should be held accountable for emissions or other pollution.
- The survey organizes the answers based on respondents' declared political affiliations.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The report organizes the data in various graph types, giving students exposure to a wide range of ways to display data.
- By providing the data in both graphs and words, the information in the report is accessible to more students, depending on their learning style.
Prerequisites
- Students should understand the two-party system in the United States, the variation within those parties, and basics about civis and the government structure in the U.S.
- Students should know what climate change is, the causes of global warming, and other related terms, such as clean energy and fossil fuels.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Students can write survey questions about climate change to ask their peers, compile data, and write a report about the results.
- Math classes can focus on the graphs and analyze the data, while civics classes predict trends in voting patterns based on the survey responses.
- Younger students or students with low reading stamina may benefit from reading just the report's Executive Summary.
This report discusses what voters of different political ideologies think about climate change. The report also discusses voters' opinions about possible climate change actions, who is responsible, and who should act. The report organizes all charts and data by political beliefs (conservative, moderate, liberal, etc.). This organization allows readers to understand what people think about climate change and climate actions, which is important in climate change conversations. The report illustrates why climate action and climate change discussions can be complicated even though science supports climate change. Older versions of this report exist if readers want to see how thoughts about climate change have evolved over the years. The information presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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