Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Communicating the link between climate change and extreme rain events

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 552–554 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Extreme rainfall events are often linked to climate change based on simple thermodynamic arguments, but complex dynamic processes also play a role. Scientists have a responsibility to ensure they provide accurate information to the media and public.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Considerations for statements to the media and public regarding the influence of climate change on an extreme rainfall event.

References

  1. Sun, Q., Zhang, X., Zwiers, F. W., Westra, S. & Alexander, L. V. J Clim 34, 243–258 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Climate council statement on the floods. Climate Council https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/climate-council-floods-statement/ (7 March 2023).

  3. Readfearn, G. Anatomy of a ‘rain bomb’: scientists strive to understand phenomenon that caused Australia’s east coast floods. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/05/anatomy-of-a-rain-bomb-scientists-study-phenomenon-2022-australia-east-coast-floods (2022).

  4. Zhong, R. How climate change is shaping California’s winter storms. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/climate/california-flood-atmospheric-river.html (2023).

  5. Sahagún, L. For all their ferocity, California storms were not likely caused by global warming, experts say. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-01-19/california-storms-more-hype-than-climate-change (2023).

  6. Pfahl, S., O’Gorman, P. A. & Fischer, E. M. Nat. Clim. Chang. 7, 423–427 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. O’Gorman, P. A. Curr. Clim. Change Rep. 1, 49–59 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Seneviratne, S. I. et al. Weather and Climate Extreme Events in a Changing Climate. in Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. (eds. Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) 1513–1766 (Cambridge University Press, 2021); https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter11.pdf

  9. Westra, S. et al. Rev. Geophys. 52, 522–555 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. van Oldenborgh, G. J. et al. Clim. Change 166, 13 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Special Climate Statement 76-Extreme rainfall and flooding in south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, February-March 2022 (Australian Government, 2022); http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs76.pdf?20220525

  12. Trenberth, K. E., Fasullo, J. T. & Shepherd, T. G. Nat. Clim. Chang. 5, 725–730 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Otto, F. E. L. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 13, 024006 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Pall, P. et al. Nature 470, 382–385 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Van De Poel, I. & Fahlquist, J. N. Risk and responsibility. in Handbook of Risk Theory: Epistemology, Decision Theory, Ethics, and Social Implications of Risk Ch. 5, 877–907 (2012); https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5_35.pdf

  16. Jézéquel, A. et al. Clim. Change 149, 367–383 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Stott, P. A., Karoly, D. J. & Zwiers, F. W. Clim. Change 144, 143–150 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Australia floods: record rainfall in Australia driven by La Niña and climate change. New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2309783-record-flooding-in-australia-driven-by-la-nina-and-climate-change/ (2022).

  19. Hassol, S. J., Torok, S., Lewis, S. C. & Luganda, P. (Un)Natural Disasters: Communicating Linkages Between Extreme Events and Climate Change (WMO, 2016); https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/unnatural-disasters-communicating-linkages-between-extreme-events-and-climate

Download references

Acknowledgements

A.D.K. and K.J.R. acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council (DE180100638). All authors acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council (CE170100023). A.D.K. acknowledges the Australian Government National Environmental Science Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Andrew D. King & Kimberley J. Reid

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Victoria, Australia

    Andrew D. King, Kimberley J. Reid & Kate R. Saunders

  3. School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Kimberley J. Reid

  4. School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Kate R. Saunders

  5. Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia

    Kate R. Saunders

Authors
  1. Andrew D. King
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kimberley J. Reid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kate R. Saunders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew D. King.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Geoscience thanks Joshua Ettinger and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

King, A.D., Reid, K.J. & Saunders, K.R. Communicating the link between climate change and extreme rain events. Nat. Geosci. 16, 552–554 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01223-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01223-1

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing