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)
Anthropogenic and natural warming inferred from changes in Earth’s energy balance Nature Geoscience Markus Huber and Reto Knutti
Detecting regional anthropogenic trends in ocean acidification against natural variability Nature Climate Change T. Friedrich, A. Timmermann, A. Abe-Ouchi, N. R. Bates, M. O. Chikamoto, M. J. Church, J. E. Dore, D. K. Gledhill, M. González-Dávila, M. Heinemann, T. Ilyina, J. H. Jungclaus, E. McLeod, A. Mouchet, J. M. Santana-Casiano
Observations reveal external driver for Arctic sea‐ice retreat Geophysical Research Letters Dirk Notz, Jochem Marotzke
Identifying human influences on atmospheric temperature Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Benjamin D. Santer, Jeffrey F. Painter, Carl A. Mears, Charles Doutriaux, Peter Caldwell, Julie M. Arblaster, Philip J. Cameron-Smith, Nathan P. Gillett, Peter J. Gleckler, John Lanzante, Judith Perlwitz, Susan Solomon, Peter A. Stott, Karl E. Taylor et a
EEE 2011: Did Human Influence On Climate Make The 2011 Texas Drought More Probable? Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society David Rupp, Philip Mote, Neil Massey, Cameron Rye, Richard Jones, and Myles Allen
Anatomy of an Extreme Event AMS Journal of Climate Martin Hoerling, Arun Kumar, Randall Dole, John W. Nielsen-Gammon, Jon Eischeid, Judith Perlwitz, Xiao-Wei Quan, Tao Zhang, Philip Pegion, and Mingyue Chen
Fingerprints of changes in annual and seasonal precipitation from CMIP5 models over land and ocean Geophysical Research Letters Beena Balan Sarojini, Peter A. Stott, Emily Black, Debbie Polson
A probabilistic quantification of the anthropogenic component of twentieth century global warming Climate Dynamics T. M. L. Wigley, B. D. Santer
Deducing Multidecadal Anthropogenic Global Warming Trends Using Multiple Regression Analysis AMS Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Jiansong Zhou and Ka-Kit Tung
Models versus radiosondes in the free atmosphere: A new detection and attribution analysis of temperature Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres F. C. Lott, P. A. Stott, D. M. Mitchell, N. Christidis, N. P. Gillett, L. Haimberger, J. Perlwitz, P. W. Thorne
Attribution of observed historical near‒surface temperature variations to anthropogenic and natural causes using CMIP5 simulations Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Gareth S. Jones, Peter A. Stott, Nikolaos Christidis
Detectable Changes in the Frequency of Temperature Extremes AMS Journal of Climate Simone Morak, Gabriele C. Hegerl, and Nikolaos Christidis
Recent intense hurricane response to global climate change Climate Dynamics Greg Holland, Cindy L. Bruyère
Detecting an external influence on recent changes in oceanic oxygen using an optimal fingerprinting method Biogeosciences Andrews, O. D., Bindoff, N. L., Halloran, P. R., Ilyina, T., Quéré, C. Le
Projected Atlantic hurricane surge threat from rising temperatures Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aslak Grinsted, John C. Moore, Svetlana Jevrejeva
Attribution of observed sea level pressure trends to greenhouse gas, aerosol, and ozone changes Geophysical Research Letters Nathan P. Gillett, John C. Fyfe, David E. Parker
Distinctive climate signals in reanalysis of global ocean heat content Geophysical Research Letters Balmaseda, Magdalena A., Trenberth, Kevin E., Källén, Erland
Contribution of relative sea-level rise to historical hurricane flooding in New York City Journal of Quaternary Science Kemp, Andrew C., Horton, Benjamin P.
EEE 2012: The Extreme March-May 2012 Warm Anomaly Over the Eastern United States: Global Context and Multimodel Trend Analysis Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Thomas R. Knutson, Fanrong Zeng, and Andrew T. Wittenberg
EEE 2012: The Role of Global Climate Change in the Extreme Low Summer Arctic Sea Ice Extent in 2012 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Rong Zhang and Thomas R. Knutson