How Guilford County residents feel about climate change

According to the Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of Americans feel the federal government is not doing enough to counteract the effects of climate change. While a majority of U.S. adults acknowledge climate change to be a real issue, there is less consensus in regards to what measures to take to address the worsening climate crisis.

Solutions such as planting more trees to absorb carbon emissions garnered widespread, bipartisan support. Approval for taxing corporations based on their emissions output or introducing stricter emissions standards for vehicles, on the other hand, seemed to fall along party lines, with 86-89 percent of Democratic-leaning respondents supporting those measures, versus 52-55 percent of Republican-leaning respondents. Attitudes toward climate change policies are split by more than mere political party affiliation, however. Other important demographic factors include generational differences, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic situation, and proximity to a coastline where natural disasters have increased in frequency. Economic reliance on fossil fuels also plays a large role in whether people support or oppose climate change measures on both a local and federal level. In order to parse how people in Guilford County feel about climate change policies, Stacker compiled statistics using data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. The data is from a survey conducted in 2021.

Nationally, 71.8 percent of people think climate change is happening. North Carolina has the 13th highest percentage of residents in the country who think their governor should be doing more to address global warming. Guilford County has the fourth highest percentage of residents in the state who are worried about global warming.

Guilford County climate change opinions by the numbers

– People who think global warming is happening: 77.6 percent
— 6.2 percent higher than state average
— #3 highest in the state
– People who do not think global warming is happening: 10.3 percent
– People who think global warming is caused mostly by human activities: 59.3 percent
– People who agree that global warming is affecting weather in the United States: 69.0 percent
– People who believe global warming will harm them personally: 49.9 percent
– People who support regulating CO2 as a pollutant: 75.8 percent
– People who think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 64.9 percent
– People who say a candidate’s views on global warming are important to their vote: 64.0 percent

Counties with the most people who think climate change is happening in North Carolina
#1. Orange County: 80.6 percent
#2. Durham County: 79.3 percent
#3. Guilford County: 77.6 percent
#4. Cumberland County: 76.7 percent
#4. Wake County: 76.7 percent

Counties with the most people who think climate change is not happening in North Carolina
#1. Stokes County: 26.8 percent
#2. Mitchell County: 24.1 percent
#3. Alexander County: 23.6 percent
#4. Graham County: 23.3 percent
#4. Wilkes County: 23.3 percent