CBS News poll on how people are coping with the heat

How are people coping with the heat? Going outside less and turning up the juice more.

Most Americans report going outside less often and many are advising their family and kids to do the same amid soaring temperatures. And people are also upping their electricity use (and those bills) in order to cope.

Americans across all age groups and regions of the country, especially in the South, are taking these measures to deal with the heat. 

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have experienced unusually high temperatures in recent weeks. Though as with many things these days, even perceptions of the weather are related to partisanship.

In recent years, most Americans have seen climate change as an issue that needs to be addressed right now, and that has not changed. 

The recent heat has spurred added feelings of concern about climate change among those who already thought it needed addressing. It has not, however, motivated people who didn’t already see a need.

Overall, more than half of Americans do see the issue as urgent — 55% of Americans think climate change needs to be addressed now — but that figure is not up significantly from April, and is in line with much of what our polling has found in recent years.

Climate change: heated political debate

We continue to see differences by political party on the issue of climate change as we long have. Democrats are far more likely to see it as an urgent matter and have become more concerned about it amid record-high temperatures.

Most Republicans, on the other hand, don’t think climate change needs to be addressed right away and haven’t become more concerned about it now.

 Partisan differences also extend to perceptions of weather. Fewer Republicans than Democrats say they have experienced unusually high temperatures recently. This is the case across regions of the country, including the South and West — areas that have faced extreme heat in recent weeks. 

Republicans who say they have had to deal with unusually hot weather are more likely than those who say they haven’t to think climate change needs to be addressed right now.

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,181 U.S. adult residents interviewed between July 26-28, 2023. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as past vote. The margin of error is ±3.2 points.

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