The Six Australias: Concern About Climate Change (and Global Warming) is Rising

Global Warming’s Six Americas sorts populations into profiles with distinct views on climate change, from the Alarmed (most worried), to the Dismissive (rejects the reality of climate change), with Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, and Doubtful between these extremes. We investigated the proportion of Australians in each profile within a 2020 national quota sample (N = 5104). Compared to analyses from 2011 and 2016, a greater proportion of Australians are now Alarmed about climate change, and fewer Disengaged, though differences in segmentation based on political allegiance remain. We also randomly assigned participants to rate either the risk and importance of “climate change” or “global warming”. This experimental wording manipulation made no difference to responses. These findings are useful for understanding how public perception of climate change has changed and may guide targeted approaches to climate change communication.