Fewer Americans Doubt Climate Change – but Confidence Is Up on Both Sides

Sixty-six percent of Americans believe that there is evidence that climate change is occurring, according to a new poll.  Sixty-two percent are 'very' or 'fairly' confident in their view, regardless of their position.

Two-thirds of all Americans are confident that climate change is real, and well-supported by evidence, according to a new National Survey on Energy and Environment (NSEE), a twice-yearly study from the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.  Meanwhile, the number of respondents who say there is no solid evidence of global warming is at a record low:  just 15 percent, versus 24 percent one year ago. 

The NSEE has been measuring public opinion on climate change since 2008, when 72 percent of respondents said global warming was a reality.  But with the early months of 2016 marking some of the hottest in human memory, and election season now in full swing, the results of this year's survey may be especially telling.

A majority of Americans believe that there is evidence that climate change is occurring, but the question remains a deeply polarizing one:  conviction in their own viewpoint has also increased, among both believers and skeptics. 
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As recently as two years ago, in 2014, a third of the country had serious doubts as to whether or not there was evidence for global warming, meaning that this spring’s rate of 15 percent is a more than 50 percent reduction over a short period of time.

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