The Public Religion Research Survey
A recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute asked 5,192 adults in all 50 states how they felt about climate change, and specifically, whether or not they think it qualifies as a “crisis.”
Source: Freepik
What the research found was incredibly interesting: The large majority of religious Americans do not believe that climate change is an actual crisis.
Breaking Down the Numbers
In a table that shows how specific groups of people feel about climate change today in 2023 versus how they felt in 2014, the PRRI reported some seriously interesting results.
Source: PRRI Climate Change Survey, 2023
In 2014, only 23% of Americans believed that climate change was a real crisis. Today, 27% would agree with that statement. And according to the survey, almost every religious group in the US also increased their belief in the crisis, except for one.
White Evangelicals Least Likely to Support Climate Change
Although every other group reported at least a marginally higher percentage of people who believe climate change is a crisis since 2014, white Evangelical Protestants actually went the other way.
Source: George Frey/Getty Images
While 13% of white Evangelical Protestants agreed the climate was in crisis in 2014, only 8% think so in 2023.
American Jews Most Likely to Support Climate Change
On the other hand, American Jews are the most likely religious group to believe that climate change is a real crisis.
Source: Alexi Rosenfield/Getty Images
Although only 1% more than in 2014, 32% of the Jewish community in America maintain that the planet is in crisis.
Less Than a Third of All Religious People Fear the Climate Crisis
Interestingly, across the board, less than one third of all religious people believe that the climate is actually in crisis.
Source: David McNew/Getty Images
Only 31% of Hispanic Catholics, 20% of white Catholics, and 19% of Black Protestants would argue that Earth is experiencing a real climate disaster.
Religious People’s Specific Views on Climate Change
It’s critical to understand why so many people affiliated with various religious beliefs don’t adhere to the climate crisis theory.
Source: PRRI Climate Change Survey, 2023
Statistically, most people across the board who do believe in climate change state they think it’s “caused mostly by human activity.” However, many religious individuals, including most Evangelical Protestants, argue that “climate change is caused mostly by natural patterns in the earth’s environment.”
Many Believe Climate Change Marks the ‘End Times’
What’s really interesting is that a huge amount of religious people believe climate change is happening due to what the Bible calls “the end of times.”
Source: PRRI Climate Change Survey, 2023
In fact, 77% of white Evangelical Protestants say that “recent natural disasters is evidence that we are in the “end of times.” On the other hand, only 35% of all Americans would agree with that statement, down 14% since 2014.
Many Religious Groups Fighting Against the Climate Crisis
It’s vital to understand that not all religious people are arguing against the climate change crisis.
Source: Onehomeonefuture.org
On the contrary, there are several organizations, such as One Home One Future, imploring religious people of all faiths to act now and make the changes needed to save the planet from climate change.
Pope Francis Publicly Supports the Need for Change
Even the current pope, Pope Francis, spoke publicly in support of the climate change crisis.
Source: Vatican Media/Vatican Pool/Getty Images
His call to action asked Catholics to not only stand up and agree that climate change is a real problem, but also to take concrete action for lasting change.
Climate Change Activists Feel the PRRI Report Is ‘Really Concerning’
While many Americans now fully believe and understand the reality of climate change, the fact that a wide pool of religious people do not is quite concerning.
Source: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, told the press, “The fact that [the numbers] remained unchanged was pretty remarkable to me. It’s just really concerning.”
The Climate Change Debate Continues
The debate as to whether or not climate change is real, as well as how much humans are affecting the planet we live on, and even what needs to happen next will certainly continue
Source: Theirry Monasse/Getty Images
No matter which side of the argument you are on, or if your religious affiliations are affecting your feelings about the crisis, the bottom line is that this is one of the biggest conversations of today and likely also will be for future generations.