Science Sources: Detection and Attribution

Climate Signals tracks detection and attribution studies in real time. Below is an updating database of studies that find the fingerprint of human-caused climate change on observed trends and events. The database is limited to studies of local significance in the United States and studies of global significance. For a broader database of peer-reviewed studies and organizational reports on climate change trends, please see all Science Sources.

Search or browse our collection of detection and attribution studies below, or learn more about detection and attribution studies.

Title Source Date Author(s)
Another Record: Ocean Warming Continues through 2021 despite La Niña Conditions Advances in Atmospheric Sciences Lijing Cheng, John Abraham, Kevin E. Trenberth, John Fasullo, Tim Boyer, Michael E. Mann, Jiang Zhu, Fan Wang, Ricardo Locarnini, Yuanlong Li, Bin Zhang, Zhetao Tan, Fujiang Yu, Liying Wan, Xingrong Chen, Xiangzhou Song, Yulong Liu, et al.
Record-Setting Ocean Warmth Continued in 2019 Advances in Atmospheric Sciences Lijing Chengm, John Abraham, Jiang Zhu, Kevin E. Trenberth, John Fasullo,Tim Boyer, Ricardo Locarnini, Bin Zhang, Fujiang Yu, Liying Wan, Xingrong Chen, Xiangzhou Song, Yulong Liu, and Michael E. Mann
Seasonal Climate Variability and Change in the Pacific Northwest of the United States American Meteorological Society John T. Abatzoglou, David E. Rupp and Philip W. Mote
Anthropogenic Influence on Long Return Period Daily Temperature Extremes at Regional Scales American Meteorological Society Francis W. Zwiers, Xuebin Zhang and Yang Feng
Evidence that Recent Warming is Reducing Upper Colorado River Flows AMS Earth Interactions Gregory J. McCabe
Causes of the 2011–14 California Drought AMS Journal of Climate Richard Seager, Martin Hoerling, Siegfried Schubert, Hailan Wang, Bradfield Lyon, Arun Kumar, Jennifer Nakamura, and Naomi Henderson
Human Contribution to the Lengthening of the Growing Season during 1950–99 AMS Journal of Climate Nikolaos Christidis, Peter A. Stott, and Simon Brown
Detection and Attribution of Observed Changes in Northern Hemisphere Spring Snow Cover AMS Journal of Climate David E. Rupp and Philip W. Mote
Model Assessment of Observed Precipitation Trends Over Land Regions: Detectable Human Influences and Possible Low Bias in Model Trends AMS Journal of Climate Thomas R. Knutson and Fanrong Zeng
Detecting Greenhouse-Gas-Induced Climate Change with an Optimal Fingerprint Method AMS Journal of Climate Hegerl, G.C., H.v. Storch, K. Hasselmann, B.D. Santer, U. Cubasch, and P.D. Jones
Anthropogenic Warming of the Oceans: Observations and Model Results AMS Journal of Climate David W. Pierce and Tim P. Barnett
Detectable Changes in the Frequency of Temperature Extremes AMS Journal of Climate Simone Morak, Gabriele C. Hegerl, and Nikolaos Christidis
Change in the Odds of Warm Years and Seasons Due to Anthropogenic Influence on the Climate AMS Journal of Climate Nikolaos Christidis and Peter A. Stott
Forced and Internal Twentieth-Century SST Trends in the North Atlantic AMS Journal of Climate Mingfang Ting, Yochanan Kushnir, Richard Seager, and Cuihua Li
Distinguishing Pronounced Droughts in the Southwestern United States: Seasonality and Effects of Warmer Temperatures AMS Journal of Climate Jeremy L. Weiss
A multiregion model evaluation and attribution study of historical changes in the area affected by temperature and precipitation extremes AMS Journal of Climate Andrea J. Dittus and David J. Karoly
Detection and attribution of temperature changes in the mountainous western United States AMS Journal of Climate Céline Bonfils, Benjamin D. Santer, David W. Pierce, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Govindasamy Bala, Tapash Das, Tim P. Barnett, Daniel R. Cayan, Charles Doutriaux, Andrew W. Wood, Art Mirin, and Toru Nozawa
Attribution of Declining Western U.S. Snowpack to Human Effects AMS Journal of Climate David W. Pierce, Tim P. Barnett, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Tapash Das, Céline Bonfils, Benjamin D. Santer, Govindasamy Bala, Michael D. Dettinger, Daniel R. Cayan, Art Mirin, Andrew W. Wood, and Toru Nozawa
Causes of Robust Seasonal Land Precipitation Changes AMS Journal of Climate Debbie Polson and Gabriele C. Hegerl
Attribution of extreme events in Arctic sea ice extent AMS Journal of Climate Megan C. Kirchmeier-Young