Fossil fuels impact on weather events in the United States

The briefing links the increased frequency and intensity of US extreme weather events, such as the July 2023 heatwave and August 2024 California wildfires, to climate change driven by fossil fuels. It highlights that US oil and gas production emissions rose roughly 42% between 2011 and 2022 and notes that 88 large fossil fuel and cement companies are responsible for 48% of the rise in fire-danger conditions in the region. The document argues for corporate accountability, citing a Climate Analytics estimate that the 12 most polluting companies are responsible for USD 15 trillion in economic damages from 1985 to 2018. While the US has seen significant growth in solar and wind capacity and electric vehicle sales, primary energy consumption remains dominated by petroleum (38%), natural gas (36%), and coal (9%) as of 2023.

• Attribution science has linked numerous extreme weather events in the US to climate change, with at least 66 studies identifying such ties, including 16 for rain and floods, 15 for droughts, 11 for storms, six for heatwaves, and six for wildfires.
• The July 2023 heatwave in the Southern US, which affected over 100 million people, was made more likely and approximately 2°C (3.6°F) hotter due to human-induced climate change.
• Emissions from 88 of the largest fossil fuel and cement companies caused 48% of the increase in fire-danger conditions in the region, contributing to 19.8 million acres (37%) of the area burned by forest fires in the western US and southwestern Canada since 1986.
• US oil and gas production emissions increased by approximately 42% from 2011 to 2022, though over 90% of the industry's total emissions are Scope 3 emissions from the use of its products.
• Analysis by Climate Analytics suggests that the 12 most polluting fossil fuel companies are responsible for approximately USD 15 trillion in economic damages for production between 1985 and 2018. Specifically, ExxonMobil is estimated to have caused USD 1.2 trillion in damages and Chevron USD 900 billion during this period.
• Despite growth in renewables—with solar capacity rising from 594 MW in 2000 to 139,205 MW in 2023 and wind from 2,377 MW to 147,978 MW—fossil fuels still provided 83% of primary energy consumption in 2023 (38% petroleum, 36% natural gas, and 9% coal).

APA

Team, Z. (2024). Fossil fuels impact on weather events in the United States. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/oil-and-gas-fuelling-extreme-weather-in-the-us/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Fossil fuels impact on weather events in the United States. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2024. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/oil-and-gas-fuelling-extreme-weather-in-the-us/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Fossil fuels impact on weather events in the United States |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=12 September 2024 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/oil-and-gas-fuelling-extreme-weather-in-the-us/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2024fossil, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Fossil fuels impact on weather events in the United States}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/oil-and-gas-fuelling-extreme-weather-in-the-us/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }