![What is an "extreme event"? Is there evidence that global warming has caused or contributed to any particular extreme event?](/sites/default/files/Florence_StormSurge5_480.jpg)
Human-caused climate change is not the sole cause of any single extreme event. However, changes in the intensity or frequency of extremes may be influenced by human-caused climate change.
![Extreme event attribution: the climate versus weather blame game](/sites/default/files/nuisanceflooding_washington_pugetsound_620.jpg)
A Q & A about the science of detecting the influence of global warming on hurricanes, fires, and other extreme events.
![Climate and human evolution](/sites/default/files/mrs-ples-480.jpg)
Rick Potts of the Smithsonian Institution discusses the role of climate variation in the evolution of our ancestors.
![The day before yesterday: when abrupt climate change came to the Chesapeake Bay](/sites/default/files/_DSC2332%20CroninMDCU_480_0.jpg)
In October 2003, a little-known think tank in the Department of Defense quietly released a report warning that climate change could happen so suddenly it could pose a major threat to our country's national security. Why was the Pentagon worried about abrupt climate change? Because new evidence from Greenland showed it had happened before.
![Sochi among the warmest Winter Olympics host cities](/sites/default/files/Aitoff_NCEP20thMinTemp_1911-2011_480.jpg)
Sochi will be among the warmest cities to have hosted a Winter Olympic Games. Climate change could make many previous Olympic cities unsuitable for Winter Games by the end of the century.
![Thomas Jefferson](/sites/default/files/styles/card_thumb/public/2023-07/Ollie_session1_Historical_480x320_vid_resizePad.jpg?itok=fNO_kRrM)
Climate Science 101: Historical Perspectives on Climate Change
February 15, 2012
![Reconstructing Weather to Predict Climate](/sites/default/files/climatewatch/2010/01/Fighter_takeoff_NHHC_h94870_225.jpg)
NOAA researchers have built a "time machine" for weather that provides detailed snapshots of the global atmosphere from 1891 to 2008. The system's ability to "hindcast" past weather events is emerging as a powerful new tool for detecting and quantifying climate change.
Out of the 29 Northern Hemisphere summers that led up to a winter El Niño, how many were hot versus cold? Wet versus dry? These maps are a global climate scorecard for the influence of El Niño on June-August climate.
![July in Christmas](/sites/default/files/ND_obs_480.png)
Was El Niño to blame for the above-average temperatures during November and December 2015? As always, the answer is not that simple.