Americans' doubt of scientists' climate change understanding grows: Pew survey

Americans’ doubt of scientists’ climate change understanding grows

Poll: Fewer Americans say scientists understand climate change very well
Partisans view climate scientists' understanding very differently
NOAA said climate change is an added factor to its winter weather forecast

Updated: Oct 27, 2023 / 04:11 AM CDT

FILE – Chilean Navy officers transport scientists to Chile’s Station Bernardo O’Higgins in Antarctica on Jan. 22, 2015. A new study released Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, concludes that Antarctica is already being and will continue to be affected by more frequent and severe extreme weather events, a known byproduct of human-caused climate change. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

(NewsNation) — The share of American adults who doubt whether climate scientists fully understand what’s causing climate change has climbed over the past seven years, according to a new survey from Pew research Center.

Nearly one-third (31%) of Americans say climate scientists understand not too or at all well whether climate change is occurring, an increase since 2021 and 2016, when it was 27%.

Similarly, less than a quarter (24%) believe climate scientists understand very well the causes of climate change, down from 28% in 2021 and 2016. Even fewer Americans (13%) say scientists know the best ways to address climate change, down from 18% and 19% in 2021 and 2016, respectively.

“Analysis of recent scientific publications finds widespread agreement among climate scientists that human activity is the primary cause of climate change,” Pew notes in its survey report.

Partisans view climate scientists’ understanding very differently, with Democrats more likely to have confidence in their assessments. More than half (52%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said scientists understand very well whether climate change is happening, compared to only 11% of their Republican counterparts.

Smaller shares of both Democrats and Republicans say scientists understand very well the best ways to address climate change, though Democrats more so than Republicans (23% vs. 4%). More than 7 in 10 Republicans (71%) say scientists understand this not too or at all well.

Climate change has increasingly become part of the public policy debate as research shows Earth’s temperatures warming rapidly, resulting in everything from melting polar ice to potentially bumpier airplane rides.

Recently, NOAA scientists said climate change is an added factor to their winter weather forecast, especially with winter being a season where the world sees some of the most warming above old normals from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Winter in the Lower 48 has warmed on average 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 40 years, according to NOAA data.