The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events

The document outlines how human-induced climate change has increased the probability of intense heat waves, severe droughts, and large forest fires in the U.S., citing data from NOAA and other scientific bodies to show that these events are becoming more frequent and severe than natural variability alone can explain.

• Man-made climate change has increased the likelihood of longer and more intense heat waves in the U.S. In 2012, high temperature records were broken at a ratio of 10-to-1 compared to cold temperature records, a significant shift from the 1-to-1 ratio typical of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Additionally, over 26,000 new record temperature highs were set in the U.S. in 2012 alone.
• Global warming intensifies drought and heat, making events dryer and warmer. Specifically, conditions that led to the 2011 Texas drought are now 20 times more likely to occur than they were in the 1960s due to greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Global Change Research Program projects more severe droughts in the coming decades, particularly in the Great Plains, where increasing temperatures and evaporation rates will stress water resources.
• Climate change has likely contributed to a significant rise in large forest fires in the American West. Over the last 30 years, the size of wildfires has increased several-fold, the number of large and long-duration forest fires has increased fourfold, and the fire season has expanded by 2.5 months.
• Scientific assessments from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Global Change Research Program indicate that man-made climate change is likely responsible for the rise in several types of extreme weather, and these trends are expected to persist.

APA

World Resources Institute (2012). The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events. https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-connection-between-climate-change-and-recent-extreme-weather-events

Chicago

World Resources Institute. The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events. 2012. https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-connection-between-climate-change-and-recent-extreme-weather-events.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events |date=2012 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-connection-between-climate-change-and-recent-extreme-weather-events |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2012connection, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-connection-between-climate-change-and-recent-extreme-weather-events}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }