Research from YouGov shows that most Americans (53%) believe that climate change is happening and that it is a result of human activity. Only 9% of the country denies that climate change is happening, but 28% of Americans believe that it is not due to human activity. Of this 28% only 12% say that the recent dramatic increases in global temperature are unprecedented – 80% say that these changes in temperature are normal.

Republicans are widely skeptical of human-caused climate change, with 41% saying that it is happening but not because of humans and 13% denying that the climate is even changing. There is a significant gap between older and younger Republicans on this issue, however. Republicans under the age of 45 (41%) tend to accept the scientific consensus that climate change is due to humans, something only 23% of Republicans aged 45 or older accept.

The youngest Americans overwhelmingly accept that climate change is due to human activity, with 72% of under-30s saying that climate change is human caused. In fact only among over-65s is the proportion accepting human caused climate change less than a majority.