Climate change in the American mind
Part 1
October 2, 2013
On October 2, 2013, during the opening event of The Five Thousand Pound Life, Anthony Leiserowitz gave a talk framing the different ways in which Americans perceive the threat of climate change, how we understand our collective and individual capacity to address it, and how willing we are to act on our understanding. Leiserowitz examined the underlying values that are reflected in our various views of climate change, and the extent to which those views are based on cultural predispositions rather than scientific data.
As the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, Anthony Leiserowitz has led research studies, repeated over a number of years, that have identified “six Americas,” each responding differently to climate change. His work is based on the premise that communication about climate change can only be effective if it is based on an understanding of the factors that influence how that communication is received.
Following Leiserowitz’s presentation, Dale Jamieson, Paul Lewis, and Kate Orff offered responses in Climate Change in the American Mind Part 2.
Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. He is an expert on public opinion about climate change and the environment. His research investigates the psychological, cultural, and political factors that influence environmental attitudes, policy support, and behavior. He conducts research at the global, national, and local scales, including many surveys of the American public.