Nationally, 72% of Americans believe global warming is happening. But when public opinion researchers zoom in on Americans, they find that attitudes and opinions about climate change can vary drastically from county to county—even when those counties are next door. Public opinion factors into how policy-makers respond to climate change, including taking steps to reduce CO2 levels and mitigate harmful impacts already being experienced. Stacker compiled a list of counties most concerned about climate change in New Jersey using data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Counties are ranked by the percent of residents that are worried about global warming.
#21. Ocean County
- Worried about global warming: 60.2%
--- 11.6% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 61.5%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 38.6%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 30.2%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 58.7%
- Total population: 453,917 people
Famartin // Wikimedia Commons
2 / 21#20. Sussex County
- Worried about global warming: 61.2%
--- 10.6% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 63.2%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 39.4%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 30.9%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 59.9%
- Total population: 113,046 people
Smallbones // Wikimedia Commons
3 / 21#19. Salem County
- Worried about global warming: 63.3%
--- 8.5% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 63.0%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 41.6%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 27.7%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 61.9%
- Total population: 49,348 people
Jared Kofsky/PlaceNJ.com // Wikimedia Commons
4 / 21#18. Hunterdon County
- Worried about global warming: 63.7%
--- 8.1% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 65.4%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 41.0%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 35.1%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 61.3%
- Total population: 100,017 people
Famartin // Wikimedia Commons
5 / 21#17. Warren County
- Worried about global warming: 63.7%
--- 8.1% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 63.6%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 41.8%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 31.3%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 59.9%
- Total population: 84,685 people
Jorge Moro // Shutterstock
6 / 21#16. Cape May County
- Worried about global warming: 63.9%
--- 8.0% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 64.3%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 41.8%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 32.1%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 58.7%
- Total population: 76,695 people
Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD // Wikimedia Commons
7 / 21#15. Gloucester County
- Worried about global warming: 64.6%
--- 7.2% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 67.3%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 42.7%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 29.7%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 61.5%
- Total population: 226,758 people
LittleGun // Wikimedia Commons
8 / 21#14. Monmouth County
- Worried about global warming: 67.5%
--- 4.3% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 70.6%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 46.9%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 35.1%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 65.0%
- Total population: 488,518 people
Dough4872 // Wikimedia Commons
9 / 21#13. Atlantic County
- Worried about global warming: 69.2%
--- 2.6% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 69.6%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 48.8%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 30.0%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 68.9%
- Total population: 209,019 people
Mihai_Andritoiu // Shutterstock
10 / 21#12. Morris County
- Worried about global warming: 70.6%
--- 1.3% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 72.3%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 46.2%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 33.8%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 68.7%
- Total population: 387,833 people
Smallbones // Wikimedia Commons
11 / 21#11. Cumberland County
- Worried about global warming: 70.7%
--- 1.2% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 67.7%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 49.5%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 25.8%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 67.9%
- Total population: 115,733 people
Apc106 // Wikimedia Commons
12 / 21#10. Burlington County
- Worried about global warming: 70.9%
--- 0.9% lower than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 71.5%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 48.6%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 29.8%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 70.5%
- Total population: 351,834 people
Zeete // Wikimedia Commons
13 / 21#9. Somerset County
- Worried about global warming: 71.9%
--- 0.1% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 72.6%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 48.2%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 32.7%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 68.6%
- Total population: 256,549 people
Zeete // Wikimedia Commons
14 / 21#8. Middlesex County
- Worried about global warming: 72.6%
--- 0.8% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 73.8%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 52.8%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 32.9%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 64.6%
- Total population: 645,442 people
Sridhar // Wikimedia Commons
15 / 21#7. Passaic County
- Worried about global warming: 74.0%
--- 2.2% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 72.4%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 52.2%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 31.8%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 70.0%
- Total population: 383,154 people
Paul Brady Photography // Shutterstock
16 / 21#6. Mercer County
- Worried about global warming: 74.4%
--- 2.6% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 75.0%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 52.3%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 33.6%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 71.9%
- Total population: 289,217 people
#5. Camden County
- Worried about global warming: 75.0%
--- 3.2% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 75.0%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 53.0%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 31.0%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 71.5%
- Total population: 390,882 people
#4. Union County
- Worried about global warming: 76.3%
--- 4.5% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 76.5%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 57.4%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 33.4%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 72.1%
- Total population: 423,700 people
#3. Bergen County
- Worried about global warming: 77.4%
--- 5.6% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 76.4%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 50.8%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 37.1%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 73.8%
- Total population: 732,135 people
Mihai_Andritoiu // Shutterstock
20 / 21#2. Essex County
- Worried about global warming: 77.4%
--- 5.6% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 76.0%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 59.2%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 32.5%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 73.3%
- Total population: 606,037 people
f11 photo // Shutterstock
21 / 21#1. Hudson County
- Worried about global warming: 79.8%
--- 8.0% higher than New Jersey average
- Agree that global warming is affecting weather: 76.8%
- Think global warming will harm them personally: 59.7%
- Hear about global warming in the media at least weekly: 36.7%
- Think Congress should be doing more to address global warming: 75.2%
- Total population: 532,462 people
