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Kevin T. Smiley, Associate Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State University

How do scientists know if climate change made a heat wave, extreme storm or wildfire worse?

People try to stay cool on the sweltering streets of Manhattan during a heat wave in July 2025. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

When a devastating heat wave, hurricane, flood or wildfire strikes, people often want to know: How much did human-caused climate change influence this event, if at all?

For many years, scientists could answer that question only in general terms. They knew that human-caused climate change was increasing the frequency or intensity of some kinds of extreme weather, but determining its influence on a particular event was much more difficult.

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