Yes. The observed warming rate has varied from year to year, decade to decade, and place to place, as is expected from our understanding of the climate system. These shorterterm variations are mostly due to natural causes, and do not contradict our fundamental understanding that the long-term warming trend is primarily due to human-induced changes in the atmospheric levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

Global warming is a long-term trend, but that does not mean that every year will be warmer than the previous one. Day to day and year to year changes in weather patterns will continue to produce some unusually cold days and nights, and winters and summers, even as the climate warms.

If you get the feeling that heavy downpours are more intense than they used to be, you’re not imagining it. According to the National Climate Assessment, the most extreme precipitation events (those in the 99th percentile of intensity) have increased in every region of the contiguous states since the 1950s. As the map above shows, the rise in intensity has been greatest in the Northeast and least in the Southwest — and in all cases, climate scientists believe, the reason is simple: in a world warmed by heat-trapping greenhouse gases, there’s more evaporation, and the atmosphere can hold on to more water. And when that water vapor condenses as rain or snow, there’s more of it.

According to Rob Moore, a water and climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, 25 percent of flood damages in the country stem from heavy rainfall overwhelming stormwater systems, rather than flooding we normally associate with rivers rising over their banks.

While the number of fires has remained relatively constant, the acreage burned and average size have been exhibiting an upward trend.

Climate Facts

Weather


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If the world is warming, why are some winters and summers still very cold?
Global warming is a long-term trend, but that does not mean that every year will be warmer than the previous one. Day to day and year to year changes in weather patterns will continue to produce some unusually cold days and nights, and winters and summers, even as the climate warms.
Increase in Extreme Precipitation Events 1958-2012
The warmer atmosphere holds more water (about 4% per degree F) and a likely result has been be the increase in severe precipitation events in the last 50 years in the United States