A Pew Research Center survey conducted from March 16 to 22, 2026, found that 48% of Americans say the Earth is getting warmer mostly because of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. The survey included 3,524 U.S. adults who are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel.
Twenty-two percent of Americans attributed climate change to natural patterns in the Earth’s environment, while 12% said there is no solid evidence the Earth is warming. Seventeen percent said they are not sure why the Earth is getting warmer, or if it is at all.
Views on climate change remain sharply divided by party affiliation. In the 2026 survey, 75% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said climate change is the result of human activity, compared with 21% of Republicans and Republican leaners. The gap between the two groups has been at least 46 percentage points in every Pew survey since 2016.
Among Republicans, 37% said the Earth is warming due to natural patterns, compared with 9% of Democrats. Within the Republican coalition, moderate and liberal Republicans were more likely than conservative Republicans to attribute warming to human activity—31% versus 14%. Among Democrats, 87% of liberals said human activity is the primary cause, compared with 66% of moderate and conservative Democrats.
Education level correlated with views among Democrats but not Republicans. Ninety percent of Democrats with a postgraduate degree said climate change is mostly due to human activity, compared with 63% of Democrats with a high school diploma or less. In contrast, about 20% of Republicans said the same across all education levels. However, 48% of Republicans with a postgraduate degree attributed warming to natural patterns, compared with 29% of those with a high school diploma or less.
Age also played a role in Republican views. Forty percent of Republicans ages 18 to 29 said the Earth is warming mostly because of human activity, compared with 15% of those ages 50 to 64 and 8% of those 65 and older. Among older Republicans, 31% said there is no solid evidence the Earth is warming, compared with 10% of Republicans under age 30. Most Democrats across all age groups said climate change is mostly caused by human activity.