How do scientists know if climate change made a heat wave, extreme storm or wildfire worse?

A National Academy of Sciences report examined the latest advances in extreme event attribution science. As four of the authors explain, the type of disaster makes a difference.

By: Kevin T. Smiley, Louisiana State University ; Deepti Singh, Washington State University; Jennifer Marlon, Yale University, and Jim Hurrell, Colorado State University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: July 24, 2026

Words: 1,289

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 5 days ago

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By Kevin T. Smiley, Louisiana State University ; Deepti Singh, Washington State University; Jennifer Marlon, Yale University, and Jim Hurrell, Colorado State University

When a devastating heat wave, hurricane, flood or wildfire strikes, people often want to know: How much did human-caused climate change influence this event, if at all?

For many years, scientists could answer that question only in general terms. They knew that human-caused climate change was increasing the frequency or intensity of some …

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