ABSTRACT
NO: Attributing individual extreme events to anthropogenic factors is not as useful as you might think
The attribution of extreme weather events attempts to link the occurrence of extreme weather to the same human actions that produce anthropogenic climate change. Some argue that extreme event attribution has significant social benefits that go beyond furthering scientific understanding. This essay examines several of the social uses to which the attribution of extreme weather events may be put and finds that they do not pass scrutiny. I argue that the attribution of specific individual events should be avoided in favour of analysing and communicating changes in types of extreme weather events.
