WASHINGTON (AP) — During the summer, Levena Lindahl closes off entire rooms, covers windows with blackout curtains and budgets to manage the monthly cost of electricity for air conditioning. But even so, the heat enters.
“Climbing the stairs is like going into soup. It’s so hot,” Lindahl said. “If I walk past my attic upstairs, you can feel the heat radiating through a closed door.”
Lindahl, 37, who lives in North Carolina, said her monthly summer electricity bills used to be about $100 years ago but have since doubled. She blames a gradual warming trend caused by climate change.
About 7 in 10 Americans say that in the last year extreme heat has had an impact on their electricity bills, ranging from minor to major, and most have seen at least a minor impact on their outdoor activities, according to a new poll from Associated Press-NORC. Center for Public Affairs Research.
As tens of millions of Americans suffer through another summer of historic heat waves, the survey’s findings reveal how extreme heat is changing people’s lives in big and small ways. The survey found that about 7 in 10 Americans have been personally affected by extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves in the past five years. This makes extreme heat a more common experience than other weather events or natural disasters, such as wildfires, major droughts and hurricanes, which up to a third of U.S. adults say they have been personally affected by.
A sizable share of Americans — about 4 in 10 — report that extreme heat has had at least a minor impact on their sleep, pets or exercise routine.
Jim Graham, 54, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and worries about the safety of his dog’s paws when he goes for walks outdoors, especially when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius. To protect their feet, they go for walks at 5:30 am. “This year feels warmer than normal,” Graham said. His one-story home has central air conditioning, and even setting the thermostat to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) leaves him earning more than $350 a month in electricity bills, a huge jump from what he used to pay. about a decade ago.
He’s not the only one watching dollars rise: About 4 in 10 Americans say they had unexpectedly high utility bills last year due to storms, floods, heat or wildfires, including nearly half of homeowners.
Like Lindahl, many see a link to climate change. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults who have experienced some type of severe weather or climate-related disaster in the past five years say they believe climate change was a contributing factor. Three in ten think climate change was not the cause.
Last year, Earth was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than it was before pre-industrial times, according to the European climate agency. Copernicus. Some may consider this increase insignificant, but temperatures fluctuate unevenly across the planet and can be dangerous to human health. Several regions of the US have set all-time temperature records this summer, and Las Vegas reached a scorching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius) on July 7.
According to the survey, about 1 in 10 Americans say extreme heat has had a major impact on their sleep in the past year, while about 3 in 10 say it has had a minor impact and 55% say it has had no impact. Hispanic Americans are more likely than white Americans to say their sleep has been affected, and low-income Americans are also more likely than higher-income Americans to report an effect on their sleep.
The effects of extreme heat are most widely reported in the West and South. About half of people living in the West say their sleep has been affected, at least to a lesser extent, by extreme heat, while about 4 in 10 people Those who live in the South say their sleep has been affected, compared to about 3 in 10 people who live in the South, Midwest and Northeast. People living in the West and South are also more likely than those in the Northeast to say their exercise routines have been affected.
Other aspects of daily life – such as work and commuting, the calendar of events like weddings and meetings, and travel and vacation plans – have been less disrupted, but their impact is felt disproportionately among specific groups of Americans. About a quarter of Americans say their travel or vacation plans have been affected by extreme heat, with Hispanic and black Americans more likely to say this than white Americans.
Even simply enjoying time outdoors has become more difficult for some. The survey found that about 6 in 10 Americans say extreme heat has affected outdoor activities for them or their families.
In general, people who do not believe climate change is happening are less likely to report being affected by various aspects of extreme heat compared to people who do. For example, about 8 in 10 Americans who believe climate change is happening say that extreme heat has had at least a minor impact on their electricity bills, compared to half of Americans who are unsure that climate change is happening. Climate change is happening or you don’t think it’s happening.
Mario Cianchetti, 70, is a retired engineer who now lives in Sedona, Arizona. His house has solar panels and heat pumps, which he installed because he was interested in reducing his electricity bill to save money. “When you retire, you have a single fixed income. I didn’t want to have to deal with rising energy costs,” said Cianchetti, who identified himself as an independent politician.
Cianchetti noted that temperatures seem unusually high, but said installing sustainable technologies in his home was a financial issue. “It’s not that I don’t believe in climate change, yes, I believe we are entering a warm cycle here, but I don’t believe it is man-made.”
When it comes to general views on climate change, 70% of North American adults say climate change is happening. About 6 in 10 of those who believe climate change is happening say it is caused entirely or mainly by human activities, while another 3 in 10 say it is caused equally by human activities and natural changes in the environment, and 12% believe that are mainly caused by natural factors. environmental change. Nine in 10 Democrats, 7 in 10 independents and about half of Republicans say climate change is happening.
These numbers are essentially unchanged since the last time the question was asked in April and have remained stable in recent years, although about half of Americans say they have become more concerned about climate change over the years. last year.
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The survey of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
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O’Malley reported from Philadelphia.
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