An essential step in the Climate Action Plans we develop for communities is our Climate Adaption Survey.  This survey consists of a series of over 20 questions, giving us a demographic profile of the respondents, insights regarding how they feel about climate change in general, and details about specific concerns as well.  While we study the survey results for each community when we’re working on their CAP, until now we have never compiled the data into an overall analysis of what we’re finding out.

We decided to compile the data from 8 of our more recent community surveys to get an idea of what people are thinking about climate change. This is not a scientifically conducted research study with statistically significant results so, as a result, we anticipate some participant bias in the answers. But we think you’ll agree with us that the information is very interesting. Over the next few months, we’ll highlight what we’ve uncovered. This month we’re focusing on general awareness and concern.

People Feel Informed about Climate Change

When asked “How well informed do you believe you are on the effects of climate change?”, 80% of respondents said they were “Aware” or “Very Aware”.  When including those that were either “Moderately Aware” or “Slightly Aware”, over 90% of respondents had some level of awareness regarding climate change. 

Large Majority of People are Concerned About Global Warming

Over 76% of question respondents are either “Extremely” or “Very” concerned about global warming.  Only 8% are “Not at all Concerned.”  This is a compelling number. Our data reflects the findings of other studies that indicate an increasing number of Americans “Think global warming is happening”, increasing from 57% in 2010 to 73% in 2020.

While Both Concerned & Not Concerned Feel They Are Informed About Climate Change, Big Majority are Informed & Concerned

We find it interesting that both extremes of opinions on climate change feel some level of awareness about the issue. 90% of those “Extremely Concerned” say they are either “Aware” or “Very Aware”.  Likewise,  82% of those “Not Concerned” say they are either “Aware” or “Very Aware”. 

But what’s most telling to us is the large disparity between the two camps.  501 respondents fall into the Extremely Concerned & Very Aware or Aware group, while only 96 respondents were Not Concerned & Very Aware or Aware.

Direct Correlation Between Age & Concern

While we kind of expected this, we were a little surprised by how tightly the ages of respondents were linked to their concerns about climate change.  88.9% of those in the Under 25 age bracket and 83.4% of those in the 26-39 age bracket were Extremely, Very, or Moderately Concerned about climate change.  This drops to 79.8% for the 40–54 bracket, 79.6% for 55-74, and 76.9% for those over 75.

Another surprise in these numbers, however, is the fact that all age groups report a majority of respondents concerned about climate change. A significant majority of community members of all ages illustrate concern over climate change.

Next month we’ll investigate some of the specific concerns survey respondents have regarding climate change.

The paleBLUEdot team provides a wide range of expert consultant services supporting community resilience, including Climate Action Planning, Sustainability Consulting, and Renewable Energy Planning. 

Paul, founder of Nicholas Marketing, supports paleBLUEdot’s marketing and communications planning and implementation efforts.