Change in US state-level public opinion about climate change: 2008-2020

Public attitudes toward climate change influence climate and energy policies and guide individualmitigation and adaptation behaviors. Over the last decade, as scientific certainty about the causesand impacts of, and solutions to the climate crisis has increased, cities, states, and regions in theUnited States have pursued diverse policy strategies. Yet, our understanding of how Americans'climate views are changing remains largely limited to national trends. Here we use a large USsurvey dataset (N=27075) to estimate dynamic, state-level changes in 16 climate change beliefs,risk perceptions, and policy preferences over 13 years (2008-2020). We find increases in globalwarming issueimportance and perceived harm in every state. Policysupport, however, increased inmore liberal states like California and New York, but remained stable elsewhere. Year-by-yearestimates of state-level climate opinions can be used to support sub-national mitigation andadaptation efforts that depend on public support and engagement.