Poll shows dive in number of Americans who see climate change as a “very serious problem”

new poll from Monmouth University shows that the percentage of Americans who think so-called climate change is a “very serious” problem has dropped significantly.

The new survey of more than 800 adults in this country shows a 10-point drop in the number of Americans who regard it this way: from 56% in 2021 to 46% when the poll was conducted in late April. 

Younger Americans — for whom activists say we’re saving the planet — seem to care even less: 67% called climate change a “serious problem” in 2021; that’s down to 50% in the new poll.

Further, the poll illustrates that the Americans who say climate change isn’t happening at all bumped from 18% in September of 2021 to 23% in the recent poll. 

The decline was noticed across party lines as well: 85% of Democrats called labeled climate change a “very serious” problem in 2021; that’s at 77% in the new poll. For Republicans in that same time frame, it went from 21% to 13%, and for Independents, 56% in 2021 vs. 43% most recently. 

The Monmouth University Polling Institute’s director Patrick Murray noted of the results, “Most Americans continue to believe climate change is real. The difference in these latest poll results is a decline in a sense of urgency around this issue.”

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.