This map shows where human-made climate change influenced extreme weather events
ropical storms, hurricanes, fires and droughts have all made the headlines this year – but how can you find out if they are due to our species’ influence on changing weather patterns?
While we may never know the exact causes of an extreme weather event, a map on website Carbon Brief now shows 144 of them that have been written about in 138 peer-reviewed scientific studies into the effects of human activity on our climate.
Analysis of the results found that 63% of all the severe weather events featured on the map to date had been made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change. “Heatwaves account for nearly half of such events (46%), droughts make up 21% and heavy rainfall or floods account for 14%,” the website said.
By Carbon Brief