The Connection Between Climate Change and Recent Extreme Weather Events

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute examines the link between man-made climate change and recent extreme weather events in the United States, specifically focusing on extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires.

• Man-made climate change has increased the likelihood of longer and more intense heat waves. In 2012, the United States set more than 26,000 new record temperature highs, with high temperature records being broken at a 10-to-1 ratio over cold temperature records, compared to a 1-to-1 ratio in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Additionally, the U.S. experienced its warmest 12-month period since record-keeping began in 1895.
• Global warming intensifies drought and heat, making drought events dryer and heat waves warmer. NOAA scientists found that conditions leading to the 2011 Texas drought are 20 times more likely to occur in a world warmed by greenhouse gas emissions than they were in the 1960s. The U.S. Global Change Research Program projects more severe and frequent droughts in the coming decades, particularly in the Great Plains region, where increasing evaporation and temperatures will stress water resources.
• Climate change has likely contributed to a significant increase in large forest fires in the American West. Over the last 30 years, the size of wildfires has increased several-fold, the length of the fire season has expanded by 2.5 months, and large, long-duration forest fires have increased fourfold. In Colorado, summer wildfires were promoted by below-normal winter snowfall, with the early summer statewide snowpack reaching only 2 percent of its historic average.
• Global temperature trends show that June 2012 was the 36th consecutive June and the 328th consecutive month with a temperature above the 20th century average. Scientists from NOAA, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program conclude that man-made climate change is likely responsible for the rise in several types of extreme weather and that these trends are expected to continue.

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} }