Global Warming’s Six Americas, Fall 2025
Articles/Websites
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Social Studies
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Provided by Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
What it is
- In this article, students will learn how Americans feel about climate change and how their feelings on the topic have changed in the last ten years.
- Based on their responses to a survey, respondents are categorized into six groups: alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, or dismissive.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This article is brief and clearly demonstrates Americans' growing concern about climate change.
- Students who are also worried about climate change may feel comforted to know that they are not alone.
Prerequisites
- Students should understand climate change and that people have different opinions about it.
- Students should be able to analyze graphs and data.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Students can take the Six Americas Super Short Survey, linked in the article, or administer the survey to other students in the school and compile the data.
- Classes with limited time or with students who have low reading stamina can simply analyze the graphs in this article to see how the distribution of the Six Americas has changed.
- After reading the communication opportunities section, students can discuss ways to communicate how climate change is interconnected with other issues, like the economy and cost of living. Students can also view these issues through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information on these goals, teachers can check out this curriculum guide.
- Advanced students can read through the Climate Change in the American Mind 2025 report to further contextualize this data.
From the scientist review
This resource presents Americans’ level of concern about climate change, with an analysis of change over the last decade. Numerous external sources are linked, including a guidebook to using this tool in campaigns and education. Methods are clearly detailed, and the data is available. This resource is a powerful tool for understanding how to communicate climate science and is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on climatecommunication.yale.edu
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