More Americans say extreme heat is affecting their lives

A new poll from AP-NORC, reported by Axios, finds that more Americans are feeling extreme heat's toll on their daily lives. Ninety percent now say heat has affected them broadly, up from eighty-three percent just two years ago. The increases span multiple areas: eighty percent report higher power bills from cooling costs, up from sixty-nine percent in twenty twenty-four; sixty-eight percent say heat is hampering their outdoor activities, up from fifty-seven percent; and forty-two percent say it's disrupting travel plans, compared to twenty-six percent two years back. The shifts were particularly sharp in the West and Midwest, regions recently hit by dangerous and deadly heat events. There's also a partisan divide, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to say heat has had major impacts. Here's the paradox, though: while more people are experiencing heat's effects directly, fewer Americans believe climate change is happening—sixty-six percent now, down from seventy-three percent last year.

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