The year 2025 commenced with a series of severe weather events tied to rising global temperatures, marking 2024 as the hottest year on record due to human-induced climate change. Recent scientific advancements allow clearer links between climate change and specific weather incidents, though not all weather variations are influenced by it. Significant trends include fewer freezing days and increased heat waves, demonstrating the lasting impact of climate change on both extreme and regular weather patterns.
The onset of 2025 was marked by an array of extreme weather events, including powerful winds that fueled unprecedented wildfires in Southern California, as well as severe winter storms affecting the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions. Concurrently, reports from leading meteorological organizations highlighted that 2024 had been recorded as the hottest year in human history, attributed to anthropogenic climate change. While traditionally, climate scientists hesitated to link specific weather phenomena to climate change, advancements in research have enabled clearer connections between climate-related variables and extreme weather occurrences, such as heat waves and hurricanes.
Though not every weather change can be directly tied to climate change, the increasing global temperatures are now evident in numerous extreme weather patterns, as expressed by climate scientist Justin Mankin. He stated, “The trends in climate are shaping new weather possibilities that were maybe unprecedented.” This differentiation between climate and weather is fundamental; climate is the long-term trend, while weather is the day-to-day variation, succinctly summarized by climate scientist Danielle Touma as, “The climate is basically the clothes you have in your closet.”
The definition of climate generally hinges on the 30-year average of weather patterns, indicating that unusual weather events can influence climate but do not override its established averages. With Earth’s temperature having risen approximately 1.3 degrees Celsius since the mid-1800s due to fossil fuel combustion, scientists are increasingly aware of how climate change subtly affects daily weather, even when these effects are not overtly noticeable.
The United States has experienced a notable decline in freezing days, with states such as Michigan and Ohio recording a decrease of over a week compared to historical averages prior to climate change. Concurrently, instances of extreme heat have risen dramatically, evidenced by the fact that the frequency of heat waves has more than tripled since the 1960s. Such shifts in climate lead to significant alterations in atmospheric and oceanic behaviors, often resulting in unfamiliar weather conditions. For instance, the intense heat wave that struck the Pacific Northwest in 2021 was made significantly more severe due to climate change, despite the weather itself being unprecedented for the area.
In recent years, scientists have made progress in employing “detection” and “attribution” methodologies. This involves the use of climate models to assess how climate and weather phenomena would manifest in a hypothetical world free from human-induced fossil fuel emissions. Researchers have been able to quantify the extent to which anthropogenic climate change has influenced certain weather events. A case in point is Hurricane Helene, where studies indicated that rainfall was intensified by 10% due to climate change and its occurrence was at least 40% more probable than without human-influenced factors. Mankin drew an apt analogy, stating, “You want to compare a distribution of medical outcomes in a population that received the drug, the treatment group, to a control group that didn’t receive the drug.” This comparison, he continued, mirrors how scientists evaluate the climate impacts of fossil fuel usage.
The discussion surrounding the interplay between climate change and weather phenomena has evolved considerably, especially in light of recent extreme weather patterns observed globally. Prior to the last decade, climate scientists often refrained from linking specific weather events to long-term climatic changes. However, advancements in meteorological research have facilitated a more nuanced understanding of how human activities, notably through fossil fuel consumption, have substantially altered atmospheric conditions that influence day-to-day weather. With climate change resulting in increased global temperatures, variations in weather extremes have become more pronounced, necessitating a reevaluation of existing climatic definitions and their implications on everyday weather patterns.
In summary, the link between climate change and extreme weather events has grown increasingly evident as researchers advance methodologies to evaluate these connections. While not all atypical weather can be definitively attributed to climate change, the overarching trend of rising global temperatures is altering weather phenomena in ways that were previously unforeseen. As climate scientists like Justin Mankin and Deepti Singh illustrate, the ever-evolving climate not only impacts extreme events but also gradually reshapes everyday weather conditions, urging society to comprehend the broader implications of climate dynamics.
Original Source: www.wprl.org
