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)
Human influence has intensified extreme precipitation in North America Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Megan C. Kirchmeier-Young and Xuebin Zhang
Identification of human-induced changes in atmospheric moisture content Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences B. D. Santer, C. Mears, F. J. Wentz, K. E. Taylor , P. J. Gleckler, T. M. L. Wigley, T. P. Barnett, J. S. Boyle, W. Brüggemann, N. P. Gillett, S. A. Klein, G. A. Meehl, T. Nozawa, D. W. Pierce, P. A. Stott, W. M. Washington, and M. F. Wehner
Forced and unforced ocean temperature changes in Atlantic and Pacific tropical cyclogenesis regions Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences B. D. Santer, T. M. L. Wigley, P. J. Gleckler, C. Bonfils, M. F. Wehner, K. AchutaRao, T. P. Barnett, J. S. Boyle, W. Brüggemann, M. Fiorino, N. Gillett, J. E. Hansen, P. D. Jones, S. A. Klein, G. A. Meehl, S. C. B. Raper, R. W. Reynolds et al
Detected climatic change in global distribution of tropical cyclones Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Hiroyuki Murakami, Thomas L. Delworth, William F. Cooke, Ming Zhao, Baoqiang Xiang, Pang-Chi Hsu
Global increase in major tropical cyclone exceedance probability over the past four decades Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences James P. Kossin, Kenneth R. Knapp, Timothy L. Olander, Christopher S. Velden
Anthropogenic climate change is worsening North American pollen seasons Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences William R. L. Anderegg, John T. Abatzoglou, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Leonard Bielory, Patrick L. Kinney, and Lewis Ziska
Impact of climate change on New York City’s coastal flood hazard: Increasing flood heights from the preindustrial to 2300 CE Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Andra J. Garner, Michael E. Mann, Kerry A. Emanuel, Robert E. Kopp, Ning Ling, Richard B. Alley, Benjamin P. Horton, Robert M. DeContok, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, and David Pollard
Detection of a Human Influence on North American Climate Science David J. Karoly, Karl Braganza, Peter A. Stott, Julie M. Arblaster, Gerald A. Meehl, Anthony J. Broccoli, Keith W. Dixon
Observed Arctic sea-ice loss directly follows anthropogenic CO2 emission Science Dirk Notz, Julienne Stroeve
Contributions of Anthropogenic and Natural Forcing to Recent Tropopause Height Changes Science B. D. Santer, M. F. Wehner, T. M. L. Wigley, R. Sausen, G. A. Meehl, K. E. Taylor, C. Ammann, J. Arblaster, W. M. Washington, J. S. Boyle, W. Brüggemann
Attribution of global glacier mass loss to anthropogenic and natural causes Science Ben Marzeion, J. Graham Cogley, Kristin Richter, David Parkes
Human-Induced Changes in the Hydrology of the Western United States Science Tim P. Barnett, David W. Pierce, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Celine Bonfils, Benjamin D. Santer, Tapash Das, Govindasamy Bala, Andrew W. Wood, Toru Nozawa, Arthur A. Mirin, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger
Anthropogenic Warming of Earth's Climate System Science Sydney Levitus, John I. Antonov, Julian Wang, Thomas L. Delworth, Keith W. Dixon, Anthony J. Broccoli
Colorado River flow dwindles as warming-driven loss of reflective snow energizes evaporation Science P. C. D. Milly, K. A. Dunne
Detection of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the World's Oceans Science Tim P. Barnett, David W. Pierce, Reiner Schnur
Human-induced arctic moistening Science Seung-Ki Min, Xuebin Zhang, Francis Zwiers
Human-caused Indo-Pacific warm pool expansion Science Advances Evan Weller, Seung-Ki Min, Wenju Cai, Francis W. Zwiers, Yeon-Hee Kim, Donghyun Lee
The 2021 western North America heat wave among the most extreme events ever recorded globally Science Advances Vikki Thompson, Alan T. Kennedy-Asser, Emily Vosper, Y. T. Eunice Lo, Chris Huntingford, Oliver Andrews, Matthew Collins, Gabrielle C. Hegerland, and Dann Mitchell
Human-caused Indo-Pacific warm pool expansion Science Advances Evan Weller, Seung-Ki Min, Wenju Cai, Francis W. Zwiers, Yeon-Hee Kim, Donghyun Lee
Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood Science Advances Xingying Huang and Daniel L. Swain