Tell us if you’ve heard this before: there are wide and diverging views on the impact of global warming and climate change. 

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication ran a survey across each county to estimate views on topics like energy and climate change. The group found strong geographic differences across the US.

Survey says: Across the US, 72% of Americans believe that global warming is happening, but there are great differences from county to county, even neighboring ones.

53% of citizens in Emery County, Utah believe global warming is happening compared to Grand County next-door, where the share is closer to 72%.

In general, counties closer to the coast or those with big cities tend to be more concerned about the impacts of climate change and global warming than more rural ones.

On energy: Views of how critical global warming is to address can shape preferred energy sources. As we’ve highlighted before, more climate-wary Democrats tend to favor renewable power while Republicans lean more toward fossil fuels, though they are supportive of solar power.

Counterintuitively, most wind and solar projects built over the past few years have been in counties where citizens are overall less concerned about the impacts of global warming. Jobs, land lease agreements and local taxes that come with a project may ultimately be more important than the reasons behind the project.

The full survey: Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2024