Flooded U.K. city

A rapid near-time analysis of the UK’s record-breaking wet December in 2015 suggests that climate change increased the odds of the exceptionally high rainfall by 50-75 percent.

Carbon Brief takes a look at the research and quizzes of the experts on the science behind attributing extreme weather events to human-caused climate change.

Warmest and Wettest

Last week, the Met Office announced that December 2015 was the UK’s wettest on record, seeing more rain than any other month since 1910. It was also the UK’s warmest December over the same period.

A series of storms—first Desmond, then Eva and finally Frank—dumped 230mm of rain on the UK during December, triggering flooding across much of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.

After some rapid number-crunching, scientists at the University of Oxford and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) have assessed the role climate change played in last month’s extreme weather.

The preliminary results—from three different approaches—indicate the human impact on climate was as large or even larger, than the impact of natural […]