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The analysis concludes that human-caused climate change increased the frequency of extreme three-day precipitation events like the August 2016 Louisiana downpours by at least 40% and increased their intensity by approximately 10%. Using observational data and high-resolution climate models (FLOR-FA and HiFLOR), the study found that such events are now more likely and intense than they were in 1900. While the specific local event was characterized as a 1-in-550 year occurrence, similar events now occur somewhere along the Central U.S. Gulf Coast region approximately once every 30 years.

The study utilizes integrated basin-scale models to analyze the water-energy-climate nexus in Sacramento, California. It finds that hot dry years, characterized by a 4C temperature increase and 25% precipitation decrease, would lead to a more than 35% increase in regional electricity imports due to constrained local power production.