Trend Extreme weather becoming more frequent and intense under climate change

Summary

The report selected the 21 most damaging weather extremes between April 2025 and April 2026, ranked by deaths, people affected and economic losses, and assessed the role of climate change in each. Most, including Tropical Storm Senyar in Indonesia, the Pakistan floods, Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka and a string of Philippine typhoons, were judged more likely or more intense because of warming. The report finds it striking how few events escaped this influence and adds that attributions based on comparable events tend to understate it rather than overstate it. Floods, droughts, storms and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense in many regions, sharply raising global risk. The severity of the damage, however, also depends heavily on other boundary breaches such as land system change, freshwater change, biosphere integrity loss and aerosol loading. These factors particularly heighten the vulnerability and exposure of marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged groups.