Americans’ level of concern about global warming declines by age group, with younger adults more likely to worry and say the effects have already started.

The biggest generational gap is visible in the belief that global warming will pose a serious threat in one’s own lifetime. This clearly reflects the different timeframes involved for each age group; the older one gets, the less time in one’s lifetime for global warming’s effects to be realized.

The second-largest age gap comes with the belief that global warming is caused by human activities.

Younger adults are also significantly more likely to think news reports on global warming underestimate the problem. They are more likely to worry about the problem and to believe there is a scientific consensus that global warming is occurring.

Younger and older Americans come closest in agreement in their views that the effects of global warming have already begun, and in self-reports of understanding global warming.

Source: Global Warming Age Gap: Younger Americans Most Worried