Washington:  According to a recent poll, a resounding majority of Americans claim to have recently experienced an extreme weather event, and the majority of them attribute it to climate change.

Even though Earth Day was observed on Saturday by many people across the nation, the poll reveals that only a small percentage of people say talking about the issue motivates them.

The results of a survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research confirm mounting evidence that many people are unsure of their own contribution to the fight against climate change. However, the survey indicates that people are paying attention.

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A little more than half of US adults say that in the last year, they have become more concerned about the changing climate, and an increasing number say that they are talking about it.

Even though Adriana Moreno, a 22-year-old high school teacher in New York, feels like she has been discussing climate change for years, she has only recently noticed that her older relatives are bringing it up "almost every time I see them," according to the Democrat.

While her family in El Salvador discusses how poorly some of their farm's crops are doing, her family on the East Coast discusses how the seasons have changed. Her parents have grown more interested in the subject as a result of hearing about Moreno for years.

Although Moreno claimed that they had previously believed in climate change, it had been "out of sight, out of mind."

According to the survey, about 8 in 10 US adults say that they have personally experienced the effects of extreme weather, such as extreme heat or drought, in the last five years.

54 percent of the general public say what they went through was at least partially a result of climate change.

The head of the federal agency in charge of overseeing weather and climate issues stated that they are not mistaken.

At a meteorological conference this year, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Rick Spinrad noted that the US has the most weather disasters that cost $1 billion of any country in the world. "It is a reality that regardless of where you are in the country, where you call home, you've likely experienced a high impact weather event firsthand," Spinrad said.

Climate change and its effects on people are measured by NOAA using weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more. 18 of those events occurred in the past year, totaling more than $165 billion in costs and 474 fatalities. Along with Hurricane Ian, the West was still experiencing a drought.

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In the 1980s, these kinds of weather events affected the country on average once every 82 days; today, they affect the nation slightly more frequently than every two weeks, according to Spinrad.

Spinrad advised people to "buckle up" due to the changing climate. More extreme occurrences are anticipated.
According to the survey, about three-quarters of US adults say recent extreme weather events have influenced their opinions about climate change in some way.
Rick Hoeft has lived in Agoura Hills, California, for two and a half years, and during that time he has observed extreme weather events that have increased his concern about climate change.

When he spent decades in Hawaii and Michigan, he was not confronted with the same weather whiplash.

The 65-year-old Republican retiree said, "I've never been in such extreme drought, so hearing about things like the fires and seeing the hills around here being brown and not getting any rain for three, four, or five months in a row... it's not something I'd ever thought of anywhere else." Afterward, "when we do finally get rain, it's extreme."

He claims that his California-native girlfriend of 45 years has informed him that "this isn't normal."

According to studies, extreme precipitation events like the series of winter storms that inundated California as well as prolonged droughts are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity.

As the world warms, it is predicted that supercells, which spawn tornadoes, will become more frequent and move even further east. Devastating wildfires have been a problem for years, made worse by global warming.
In comparison to the 4 in 10 US adults who said the same in June, half of US adults say they have discussed climate change with friends and family in the past year.

However, many claim to discuss the subject only infrequently or never.
An important issue to John Laubacker, a 36-year-old truck driver from Lockport, New York, is the environment. But he doesn't often find himself discussing it.

A moderate Republican named Laubacker claims that, like other topics, the conversation on climate change is dominated by people with extreme viewpoints on both sides of the political spectrum.

According to the survey, people don't frequently discuss climate change with people who they vehemently disagree with on the subject. About half of those who communicate with family and friends report that they generally agree with them, while the majority of those who don't say they tend to agree and disagree equally.

Only 19% of US adults say their minds have changed as a result of a conversation about climate change, despite the fact that a resounding majority say they have learned new information in such a conversation.

A small percentage of people, about half, report feeling at least somewhat hopeful or motivated when discussing climate change, according to the poll. That also applies to sadness and anxiety.

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In "ruby red" Jackson, Tennessee, retired Democrat Anthony Thompson, 74, believes that climate change has accelerated. However, he is selective about who he talks to about it. But if the subject comes up when tornadoes or hailstorms strike their region, he provides what he has discovered as "food for thought."

As Thompson's concern has grown, so too have the weather changes.

To be quite honest, he said, "I'm more worried now because I think people kind of take everything for granted and I don't think they really care. We may be able to at least slow it down if we focus on some of this stuff.