The Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Intensification of Extreme Precipitation over North America

Observations have demonstrated increasing trends in extreme precipitation, and models and theory consistently suggest continued increases with future warming. Here, we address the question of whether these changes in extreme precipitation can be attributed to human influence on the climate. Although attribution has been demonstrated for larger scales, there is a lack of robust results for continental and regional scales. Identifying the role of anthropogenic forcings in the intensification of precipitation extremes will increase confidence in future projections, helps illuminate event drivers, has benefits for climate change communication, and can inform adaptation plans. We use simulations from multiple model ensembles to demonstrate a robust attribution of the increase in frequency and intensity of regional precipitation extremes over North America.