Broadening the scope of anthropogenic influence in extreme event attribution

Studies of this type usually assess the contribution of anthropogenic climate change to observed impacts. Other scientific communities have developed tools to assess how human activities influence impacts of extreme weather events on ecosystems and societies.

For example, the disaster risk reduction (DRR) community analyses how the structure of human societies affects exposure, vulnerability, and ultimately the impacts of extreme weather events, with less attention to the role of anthropogenic climate change. In this perspective, we argue that adapting current practice in EEA to also consider other causal factors in attribution of extreme weather impacts would provide richer and more comprehensive insight into the causes of disasters.