Parsing through the data, which the APA shared with Passive House Accelerator, a few trends become clear with respect to which demographic groups are the most and least anxious about climate change. The data shows a limited divide along gender lines, though males expressed slightly less anxiety about climate change and are less likely to agree that climate change is affecting the mental health of Americans than females. Data also shows that the percentage of people who are very anxious about climate change is relatively constant across generational lines. The average across all adults was 31%, which deviated by 1% or less across each generation (GenZers over the age of 18, Millennials, GenXers, and Baby Boomers), as Figure 1 shows.

Despite consistent representation of climate worriers across generational lines, younger people are less likely to say they do not feel too anxious or any anxiety at all about climate change when compared to Baby Boomers and members of GenX. Polling shows that 18% of adults are not at all anxious about climate change on average, and that the figure grows from an average of 10% among Gen Z, to 16% among Millennials, to 19% among Gen X, and 23% among Baby Boomers. Figure 2 shows that younger participants are also more likely to say that climate change is already impacting the mental health of Americans, while older individuals are more likely to somewhat disagree or strongly disagree.

The divide between younger and older individuals is similar to the divide between political factions. Democratic-leaning or self-described liberal individual are more likely than average to say that they are very anxious about climate (47% and 54%, respectively), while Republican-leaning or self-described conservative individuals are far more likely to say that they are not at all anxious about climate change (33% and 39%, respectively). More liberal adults are also more likely to believe that climate change is already impacting the mental health of Americans when compared to poll averages, while the opposite is true for conservatives. Liberal adults report more regularly experiencing anxiety about the effects of climate change than other groups, with approximately 54% saying it’s something they worry about at least once per week (see Figure 3). While Democratic voters and liberals reliably fell to one side of the continuum and Republican voters and conservatives reliably fell to the other, moderates and independents reliably fell in the middle.

The data also highlights divides in how people feel climate change is affecting their own mental health and physical health. Over 50% of Millennials and members of Gen Z (53% and 56%, respectively) say that climate change has already had a significant impact or somewhat of an impact on their mental health (see Figure 4). Other groups in which more than half said that climate change has already had a significant impact or somewhat of an impact on their mental health include liberals (63%), people who identify as Hispanic (60%), Democrats (57%), and city dwellers (51%). One quarter of conservatives, approximately one-third of Republicans (32%), and 39% of rural individuals say they have noticed at least somewhat of an impact on their mental health because of climate change. On average, the effects of climate change on participants’ physical health are comparable, as shown in Figure 5. However, the physical effects appear to be less noticeable than the effects on mental health.

There is also growing concern about how the government is responding to the threat of climate change. While a minority of Republican voters and conservatives (38% and 35%, respectively) say they are either very anxious or somewhat anxious about how the federal government is responding to climate change, a majority of every other demographic group feels either very anxious or somewhat anxious, as shown in Figure 6. This includes all generations, community types, and racial/ethnic backgrounds. It even includes 53% of respondents who said that they did not vote in the 2024 election.