Many Americans underestimate health risks of extreme weather, new study finds

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · Aug 10, 2026 · 443 words · By Rebecca Owen

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What to know about Many Americans underestimate health risks of extreme weather, new study finds

The article discusses a study published in GeoHealth that identifies 'risk perception gaps' regarding the health dangers of extreme weather in the United States. The researchers found that individuals who believe in anthropogenic climate change generally have a more accurate perception of their personal risk, suggesting that increased awareness could improve community preparedness.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Many Americans underestimate health risks of extreme weather, new study finds Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor A changing climate increases the health risks posed by extreme weather.

Why it matters

However, according to the 2024 Yale Climate Opinion Maps, only 47% of U.S.

Common ground

survey participants believed that global warming would harm them personally.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Many Americans underestimate health risks of extreme weather, new study finds?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Researchers used climate risk perception data from the 2024 Yale Climate Opinion Maps, which are derived from 31 nationally representative surveys of nearly 35,000 participants?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-americans-underestimate-health-extreme-weather.htm…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 7

verified Verified By Reference 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

info

Claim 1: “Researchers used climate risk perception data from the 2024 Yale Climate Opinion Maps, which are derived from 31 nationally representative surveys of nearly 35,000 participants.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Web search confirms the existence of the 2024 Yale Climate Opinion Maps and that they are based on survey data through fall 2024, but the specific numbers (31 surveys, 35,000 participants) are not explicitly verified in the snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Obligations of States in respect of climate change is an advisory opinion brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, following General…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obligations_of_States_in_respe…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Public opinion on climate change is related to a broad set of variables, including the effects of sociodemographic, political, cultural, economic, and environmental factors as well as media coverage a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_on_climate_chan…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) is a research center within the Yale School of the Environment that conducts scientific research on public climate change knowledge, attitudes,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Program_on_Climate_Change…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 2: “The percentage of adults who believed that climate change would personally harm them ranged by county from 28.5% to 60.5%, with an average of 37.7%.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The exact phrasing 'The percentage of adults who believed that climate change would personally harm them ranged by county from 28.5% to 60.5%, with an average of 37.7%' appears verbatim in one web search result.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Impossible (Spanish: Lo imposible) is a 2012 English-language Spanish biographical disaster drama film directed by J. A. Bayona and written by Sergio G. Sánchez. It is based on the experience of M…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Impossible_(2012_film)

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 3: “The study suggested that the same regions with higher risk perception gaps had higher climate-related mortality rates.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence confirms that researchers compared risk perception with mortality estimates, but the specific conclusion that regions with higher gaps had higher mortality rates is not explicitly stated in the provided snippets.

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web search NEUTRAL — By comparing climate risk perception with estimates of mortality caused by wildfire smoke, flooding, drought and extreme temperatures, the researchers identified where the greatest risk perception gap…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-americans-underestimate-health…

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web search NEUTRAL — The findings show that climate-related mortality is unevenly distributed and shaped by demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and climatic factors. Females, older adults, and individuals with lower e…
https://dondena.unibocconi.eu/spatial-and-sociodemographic-h…

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web search NEUTRAL — Underestimating climate-related mortality means not fully recognizing or accounting for the number of deaths that result from climate change, including events like heatwaves, droughts, and extreme wea…
https://www.linkedin.com/top-content/science/climate-data-an…

verified

Claim 4: “Residents in the Midwest and northern United States showed a lack of awareness of the health risks of wildfire smoke and flooding, while residents in the western and southern United States showed a lack of awareness of drought.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The search results for this claim returned irrelevant information about a band called 'The Residents' and general definitions of 'Midwest', providing no evidence regarding regional awareness of wildfire smoke, flooding, or drought.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The states and territories included in the United States Census Bureau's statistics for the United States population, ethnicity, and most other categories include the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,409, making it the eighth largest ci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest_City,_Oklahoma

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland, the American Midwest, Middle America, or the Middle West) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 5: “the gap between perceived and actual risk... was generally smaller in counties where more residents agreed that "global warming is happening."”

SINGLE SOURCE

The exact phrasing 'it was generally smaller in counties where more residents agreed that "global warming is happening."' appears verbatim in one web search result.

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web search NEUTRAL — The gap between perceived and actual risk varied across the country and by hazard, but it was generally smaller in counties where more residents agreed that "global warming is happening."
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-americans-underestimate-health…

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web search NEUTRAL — The perception gap is an information problem, and information problems can be fixed.Warming does create a risk of eventually having consistent water shortages during Summer melting, but cooling will s…
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/08/23/the-climate-issue-per…

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web search NEUTRAL — The report analyses global risks through three timeframes to support decision-makers in balancing current crises and longer-term priorities.
https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-202…

info

Claim 6: “They found that belief in anthropogenic climate change was associated with smaller gaps between perceived and actual risk”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence discusses climate change beliefs and risk perception gaps generally, but does not explicitly state the finding that belief in anthropogenic climate change specifically reduces the gap between perceived and actual risk.

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web search NEUTRAL — Irrespective of belief in anthropogenic climate change, or how they described climatic events, farmers in northeastern California adopted a range of new field-management practices, many with mitigatio…
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-022-03417-9

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web search NEUTRAL — New research examines the gaps between health risks linked to climate change and public perception of those risks across the United States. Here New Yorkers are seen beneath skies shrouded in smoke fr…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-americans-underestimate-health…

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web search NEUTRAL — We include five different dimensions of climate change beliefs: climate change awareness, belief in anthropogenic climate change, risk perception, the need to stop climate change, and self-efficacy.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal…

help

Claim 7: “Mitchell Manware et al, Misperception of Extreme Weather Event Mortality Risk in the United States, GeoHealth (2026). DOI: 10.1029/2025gh001782”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found for this specific study title, author, or DOI in the provided search results.

info

Claim 8: “In an article published in GeoHealth, Mitchell Manware and colleagues compared mortality risk estimates with public perceptions of climate risk to establish "risk perception gaps."”

SINGLE SOURCE

A web search result titled 'Many Americans underestimate health risks of extreme weather, new...' describes the exact methodology (comparing mortality risk estimates with public perceptions to identify risk perception gaps), but the specific author 'Mitchell Manware' and the journal 'GeoHealth' are not explicitly linked in the snippet provided.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — William Redfern (1775 – 17 July 1833) was the surgeon's first mate aboard HMS Standard during the May 1797 Nore mutiny, and at a court martial in August 1797 he was sentenced to death for his involvem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Redfern

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web search NEUTRAL — Abstractfor Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13669877.2020.1…

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 9: “according to the 2024 Yale Climate Opinion Maps, only 47% of U.S. survey participants believed that global warming would harm them personally.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication is a verified entity, the specific 47% figure for 2024 is not explicitly confirmed in the provided search results, although a related article mentions the range and average for personal harm in Claim 4.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.