Warm water in the Gulf of Mexico that was predicted by climate scientists to feed harsher hurricanes helped supercharge September’s Hurricane Helene. That was before October’s monster storm, Milton, struck – the destruction of which will become clear in the days to come.
The science suggests Americans need to get used to more harsh weather events – extreme storms, warmer waters, wildfires and hotter weather. Evacuations and destruction will become more normal.
But climate change, to the extent people are talking about it, does not register this year as an “extremely important” presidential campaign issue, per a new poll.
Just 5% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, along with slightly more than a third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, said climate change was “extremely” important to their vote.
Climate change and transgender rights were the only two of the 22 issues listed by Gallup that half or fewer of respondents said were either “extremely” or “very” important to their presidential vote choice.
An issue doesn’t have to be top of mind to be potent. Transgender rights might not be the issue a majority of voters are citing as important, but it is the issue on which former President Donald Trump’s allies are focusing many of their ad dollars as they attack Vice President Kamala Harris in the final month of campaigning.
Voters are most focused on the economy, with 52% of registered voters, driven by Republicans and Republican leaners, citing the economy as “extremely important” to their vote. The second-most-cited “extremely important” issue, democracy in the US, was driven by Democrats.
Here are the top five most-cited “extremely important” issues for Republicans and Republican leaners in the survey:
The top five for Democrats and Democratic leaners was completely different:
In this moment when a climate change-driven disaster is disabling a portion of the country, misinformation is driving some of the conversation.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, is a climate change skeptic like Trump. She’s been spreading bonkers conspiracy theories about the origins of these storms, blaming space lasers, cloud seeding and other experimental technologies to falsely allege the government controls the weather.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, was asked about climate change during the vice presidential debate in early October, after it was clear that Helene had caused a major disaster.
Vance danced around the term – climate change – and instead admitted there are “crazy weather patterns.” He acknowledged the weird weather, which he said was more productive than getting into an argument about “weird science.”
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Martika Stansell and two of her children help pile debris in front of their flooded house in Canton, North Carolina, on Thursday, October 3.
Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Helicopters use a field in Swannanoa, North Carolina, as a landing zone Thursday to ferry supplies and crews to areas made inaccessible by Helene.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
A man helps clean out a home's flooded crawlspace in Cruso, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
A residential area is flooded in Swannanoa on Thursday.
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A relief group climbs up the side of a hill as they help near Bat Cave, North Carolina, on Thursday. The group was tasked with clearing roads and checking on people isolated because of Helene.
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Volunteers load supplies at Ridgeline Heating and Cooling, which was turned into a relief area and community coordination center in Bills Creek, North Carolina, on Thursday.
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A police car is stuck in mud in a flooded area of Lake Lure, North Carolina, on Wednesday, October 2.
Mike Stewart/AP
Homes are damaged in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
People help run a volunteer local community care center in Barnardsville, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Mike Stewart/AP
A marina is filled with debris in Lake Lure on Wednesday.
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Emily Ogburn, right, hugs her friend Cody Klein after he brought her a meal in Swannanoa on Wednesday.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Friends help Sam Soughail, third from left, clear out his Casablanca Cigar Bar in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, October 1.
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Van Hutchins, right, hands Dennis Rector a family photo album that survived the flooding of his wife's business, the Penland & Sons Department Store, in Marshall, North Carolina.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Power line poles lean in Lake Lure on Tuesday.
Mike Stewart/AP
A search-and-rescue team looks for victims in deep mud Tuesday in Swannanoa, North Carolina.
Jeffrey Collins/AP
Andy Brown takes a break on top of what remains of a tree that destroyed his SUV in Augusta, Georgia, on Tuesday.
Jeff Roberson/AP
Len Frisbee dumps a wheelbarrow of dirt as he helps with cleanup in Hot Springs, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
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People evacuate by foot on Highway 64, near the Bat Cave community of North Carolina, on Monday, September 30.
Marco Bello/Reuters
A helicopter flies near damaged buildings in Bat Cave on Monday.
Kathy Kmonicek/AP
Linda Bandy, left, and Carissa Sheehan clean up inside the International Moulding frame shop in Morganton, North Carolina, on Monday.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Janice Whitley hands her brother Terry Wilson some salvaged items while they remove valuables from their flooded home in Old Fort on Sunday, September 29.
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People wait in line to access gasoline in Fletcher, North Carolina, on Sunday.
Kathleen Flynn/Reuters
Melinda Segassie wheels possessions she salvaged from her home in Steinhatchee, Florida, on Sunday.
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This home in Tampa, Florida, was destroyed by fire during the storm.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Workers clean and gut a flooded property in Steinhatchee on Sunday.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Meta Gatschenberger surveys the remains of her collapsed house in Boone, North Carolina, on Saturday, September 28.
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
People gather at a fire station to access Wi-Fi on Saturday after Helene moved through Asheville.
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People inspect flood damage in Asheville on Saturday.
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An area of Asheville is flooded on Saturday.
Kathleen Flynn/Reuters
Elmira Glover sits on her porch after taking the first look inside her home, which had been completely flooded in Steinhatchee.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Boats displaced by Hurricane Helene sit in front of homes in Treasure Island, Florida, on Saturday.
Marco Bello/Reuters
Light filters into a room of a home that was destroyed by the hurricane in Horseshoe Beach, Florida.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Customers crowd a supermarket aisle for bottled water after widespread damage disrupted water supplies in Boone on Saturday.
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Buildings are left damaged by the storm in Valdosta, Georgia, on Saturday.
Marco Bello/Reuters
People walk among debris from their family's beach house in Horseshoe Beach on Saturday.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
The Laurel Fork Road bridge is destroyed by floodwaters in Vilas, North Carolina, on September 27.
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Cassandra Randall, right, is hugged by Jessica Downey inside a damaged Maddie's grocery store in Steinhatchee on September 27.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
People work on power lines after Hurricane Helene passed offshore in Crystal River, Florida, on September 27.
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Hailey Morgan, right, surveys the damage to her flooded home after returning with her children, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Crystal River on September 27.
Marco Bello/Reuters
An aerial view shows a flooded and damaged area following Hurricane Helene in Steinhatchee on September 27.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
A person walks into fast-flowing waters to assist a stranded driver in a stretch of flooded road on the outskirts of Boone on September 27.
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People use buckets to remove water from a home near Peachtree Creek in Atlanta on September 27 after Hurricane Helene brought heavy rain overnight.
Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/AP
Sarah Cribbins and her son, Michael, cuddle their dog after being rescued from floodwaters in Crystal River on September 27.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP/Getty Images
Debris is seen inside a Cedar Key, Florida, store on September 27.
Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network
A tree crew cuts up large limbs that fell on East 49th Street in Savannah, Georgia, on September 27.
Mike Carlson/AP
An American flag sits in floodwaters in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Florida, on September 27.
Mike Stewart/AP
A tree lies on a house in Valdosta, Georgia, on September 27.
Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Candice Ocvil, left, and Jibri Tolen, right, row through flood waters in Atlanta on September 27.
Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is seen in Cedar Key, Florida, on September 27.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Candace Redwine surveys the damage after about 3 feet of water inundated her Spiceman Kitchen store in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on September 27.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Flood water washes over Guy Ford Road bridge on the Watauga River in Sugar Grove, North Carolina, on September 26.
United States Coast Guard/Reuters
In this screengrab taken from a
United States Coast Guard body cam, a man and his dog are seen being rescued after his sailboat became disabled and started taking on water off Sanibel Island, Florida, on September 26.
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Cars drive over the George G. Tapper Bridge before Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Port Saint Joe, Florida, on September 26.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Guests put on ponchos at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, on September 26 as Hurricane Helene began bearing down.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Carol Poulson uses her phone to document the impacts of Hurricane Helene as it builds offshore in St. Petersburg on September 26.
Andrew West/The News-Press/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
A man walks through a flooded Times Square area of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on September 26.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Cynthia Centeno, a Tallahassee resident, sits with her family inside a hurricane evacuation shelter at Fairview Middle School in Leon County, Florida, on September 26.
Marco Bello/Reuters
Waves impact a house seawall in Eastpoint, Florida, on September 26.
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Charles Starling, a lineman with Team Fishel, walks by a row of electrical line trucks staged in a field in The Villages, Florida, on September 26.
Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
People work at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 26.
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A man crosses a flooded area on the coast of Gulfport, Florida, on September 26.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Cars drive through a flooded street in St. Pete Beach on September 26.
NOAA
Hurricane Helene is seen in a satellite photo on September 26.
Marco Bello/Reuters
A woman fills up a container with gas ahead of Helene's landfall in Cross City, Florida, on September 25.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People in Guanimar, Cuba, traverse a flooded street in a boat on September 25.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
A Wakulla County firefighter speaks to residents of Panacea, Florida, while making note of those who were not evacuating on September 25.
Paola Chiomante/Reuters
Storm damage from Helene is seen in Puerto Juarez, Mexico, on September 25.
Marco Bello/Reuters
People fill up sandbags in Clearwater, Florida, on September 25.
But Vance’s remedy to the so-called weird weather is counterintuitive. He said Trump’s plan to vastly increase oil production is the answer because it would bring more energy production and manufacturing jobs to the US.
The Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was ineffective at drawing the obvious contrast – that the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats is already meant to kickstart American manufacturing with a pivot to a greener economy.
Harris, meanwhile, has gone to great lengths to express that she does now support the practice of fracking, which climate activists oppose but which is important to the economy in the key state of Pennsylvania. In an interview with CNN in August, Harris argued the country can address the climate crisis without ending the practice of fracking.
“What I have seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash, explaining her new position.
Still, admitting there is a climate crisis is a much different thing than refusing to say the words. In that recent Gallup polling, Harris had a 26 percentage point advantage over Trump when voters were asked who would do a better job addressing climate change. It was the largest spread in the poll. Trump’s advantage over Harris on his best issues, the economy and immigration, for instance, was 9 percentage points. Those are smaller advantages on issues that appear to be driving more voters.