Pollution of oceans, rivers, lakes, and drinking water are among Americans' top fears (via photographer Nienetwiler)

In case you didn’t notice, today is Friday the 13th—the unluckiest day of the year.
The superstition (paraskavedekatriaphobia, by its scientific name), with roots in the Bible, has been blamed for many a grim and unexplainable occurrence.
But fear of, well, fear itself doesn’t hold a candle to Americans’ greatest anxieties, as compiled by Chapman University.
In May, a random sample of 1,207 adults from across the US were asked to assess their level of fear (“afraid” or “very afraid”) about 80 different scenarios across a variety of topics, from crime and the environment to technology and the government.
The results are not surprising:
  • Corrupt government officials: 74.5 percent
  • American Healthcare Act/Trumpcare: 55.3 percent
  • Pollution of oceans, rivers, lakes: 53.1 percent
  • Pollution of drinking water: 50.4 percent
  • Not having enough money for the future: 50.2 percent
  • High medical bills: 48.4 percent
  • The US getting involved in another world war: 48.4 percent
  • Global warming and climate change: 48 percent
  • North Korea using weapons: 47.5 percent
  • Air pollution: 44.9 percent
“The 2017 list of fears clearly reflects political unrest and uncertainty in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as president,” the University said in a blog post.
Increased tensions with North Korea, proposed changes to healthcare, and (at the time), discussions of the US leaving the Paris Climate Accord stirred up different worries among Americans this year.
Results spread across the board—brown for government, green for environment, blue for economic, and yellow for man-made disasters (via Chapman University)
By contrast, many people in 2016 cited terrorism, restrictions on firearms, the death of loved ones, an economic/financial collapse, and identity theft among their top concerns.
This marks the first time environmental issues have cracked the survey’s top 10 terrors.
“What is, perhaps, most striking about American fear in 2017 is that environmental fears … figure more prominently than ever before,” the blog said.
Since his inauguration in January, Trump ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to not enforce major pollution laws, withdrew the “Waters of the United States” and “Stream Buffer” rules, and fired the EPA’s entire Science Advisory Board.
Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, has long been quoted as humans’ No. 1 fear. According to this survey, though, only 20 percent of people admitted to the anxiety.
Similarly scary situations—including encounters with clowns, zombies, and ghosts—landed at the bottom of the list, alongside the sight of blood and animals (dogs, rats, etc.), each counting fewer than 10 percent of responses.
Chapman University also provides in-depth reports on America’s fear of extremism and the threat to national security, the country’s knowledge of disaster preparedness (or lack thereof), and paranormal beliefs.