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This story was first publishedy of guardian Reprinted here as part of. climate desk collaboration.
in the middle of summer Despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismiss global warming as a “con man” and a “hoax,” a new poll finds that a majority of Americans associate increasingly severe weather with the climate crisis, with dangerous heat, droughts and flooding.
Grace Adcox, senior climate strategist at Data for Progress, said this was a sign that attempts to dampen and polarize concerns about climate change may not be completely successful.
“We started with the question, “Are extreme weather events on the rise?” because we thought that if we could find agreement on that, that would be a gateway to a more bipartisan dialogue about climate and climate intervention, she said.
About 61 percent of likely U.S. voters believe extreme weather events have become more frequent in the past five years, a survey by progressive polling firm Data for Progress shared exclusively. guardian, Found it. This includes 72% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and nearly half (46%) of all Republicans.
Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a longtime critic of Democrats for silencing debate about global warming, or “climate change,” said the data “adds to the growing body of evidence that the public is far ahead of politicians when it comes to the dire consequences of climate change.”
“Extreme heat has the greatest impact in the U.S. context compared to other types of extreme weather.”
“Climate change activists who ignore this righteous fight should take note,” he said. guardian.
The researchers also asked participants whether certain extreme weather events were being “worsened by climate change.” Majorities associate climate change with worsening wildfires (64%), droughts (63%), flooding and flash flooding (62%), hurricanes (59%), and severe thunderstorms and hailstorms (59%). But topping the list is heatwaves, with 67% saying climate change is making their symptoms worse, including 48% of Republicans, the highest rate of any extreme weather event surveyed.
That could be because nearly everyone in the U.S. has experienced unusually hot days or weeks in recent years, Adcox said. High temperatures kill more people in the United States each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined.
“There are regional differences in the experience of extreme weather,” Adcox said. “Extreme heat has the greatest impact in the U.S. context compared to other types of extreme weather.”
The findings show that scorching conditions could provide an “interesting opening salvo” for talking about the climate crisis, she added.
Anthony Leizerowitz, director of Yale’s Climate Change Communications Program, said the new poll’s results are “very consistent” with the conclusions researchers drew based on a Yale survey that showed Americans are increasingly linking extreme weather events to the climate crisis and want to protect workers from the heat.
But Jennifer Marlon, a senior fellow at Yale University who also focuses on climate communication, said it’s nonetheless unclear whether most Americans understand why exactly the climate is changing.
“This is probably the biggest misconception. Many Americans still think that warming is due to some kind of natural cycle. But that’s not the case,” she said, adding that a spring survey from the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication found that 27 percent of people think the change is mostly due to nature.
Adcox said the findings could help inform how to frame future conversations about the climate crisis with skeptical Americans. For example, data shows that heat may be the type of extreme weather that drives most of the climate conversation.
“You can say, this heatwave event is crazy, so let’s talk about it, let’s talk about why it’s happening,” she said.
“These findings send a strong message that protecting workers from dangerous heat is not a partisan issue.”
Other findings also show that even Americans who may not be convinced that the climate crisis is man-made or even happening will support some measures focused on climate justice.
As temperatures rise globally and nationally, workers who work outdoors, such as construction workers, farm workers, and roofers, are among those most susceptible to heat-related illnesses.
In fact, extreme heat is a leading cause of workplace injuries and deaths. Some indoor workers, such as those in warehouses, commercial kitchens, and manufacturing facilities, can also face significant heat risks due to factors such as lack of air conditioning, poor ventilation, and humidity. Polls show this is a risk that most Americans think lawmakers should address.
About 88% of participants in the Data for Progress survey said they supported their state’s policy requiring employers to provide heat protection measures such as access to potable water, shade, breaks, and air conditioning. Only 7 percent of voters said they opposed the policy, showing broad support for the protections that previous Data for Progress polls have shown.
“These findings send a strong message that protecting workers from dangerous heat is not a partisan issue,” said Jessica E. Martinez, executive director of the National Occupational Safety and Health Council, a network of 20 local grassroots worker organizations. “With 88 percent of likely voters supporting requiring employers to provide lifesaving basic heat protection, it’s clear the public expects all workers to be protected.”
He said the poll shows the public supports the creation of federal heating standards. These standards have been demanded by workers for years, but progress has stalled under the Trump administration.
In April, the current administration also authorized a national enforcement initiative from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration focused on protecting workers from heat illness, and subsequently announced a revised but significantly weakened program.
“Our desire to continue to demonstrate the broad and particularly strong cross-party support for Labor’s heat policy is a way of demonstrating what a worker-first approach to climate change looks like,” Adcox said.
