CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten was surprised on Thursday that the majority of Americans aren’t scared of climate change.
“Are Americans afraid of climate change? And the answer is, Americans aren’t afraid of climate change,” Enten said on “CNN News Central.” “Climate activists have not successfully made the case to the American people.”
Enten said the network has data reaching back to 1989 about how worried people are about climate change.
BILL NYE SAYS TEXAS FLOOD DEATH AND DESTRUCTION COMPOUNDED BY IGNORING CLIMATE CRISIS
In 1989, 35% of Americans were “greatly worried” about climate change, Enten said. In 2000, the number jumped five percentage points, with 40% of Americans being “greatly worried” about climate change.
Forty-six percent of Americans were “greatly worried” about climate change in 2020, but then the percentage dropped again to 40% in 2025, according to Enten.
“Despite all of these horrible weather events, the percentage of Americans who are greatly worried about climate change has stayed pretty, gosh-darn consistent, which kind of boggles the mind a little bit,” Enten said. “Granted, everything that we see on our television screens, our computer screens, the hurricanes, tornadoes, the flooding, but yet greatly worried about climate change, 40 percent in 2025, the exact same percentage as back in 2000.”
On the Fourth of July, the Texas Hill Country floods left over 100 people dead, and over 150 missing, which some have attributed as a climate change consequence of extreme weather.
On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested a special session to deliberate legislation that would improve warning mechanisms and emergency response in areas of Texas especially susceptible to floods.
