But I feel we also run into the reverse problem. While it's true that neither Hurricane Irma nor Harvey nor Katrina, nor the Californian or Australian wildfires, nor the strangely warm arctic temperatures, can be singularly attributed to climate change, the pattern of all these events is clearly climate change at work.
And so we end up stuck in this stupid limbo, where because no one can be certain that climate change caused this disaster, nothing is ever done in response to any disaster. We should be viewing these events as a serious call to action.
> ...the pattern of all these events is clearly climate change at work.
This is still debated. The notion that weather has become more extreme still relies on very little data and statistical models trying to fit different types of events into the same model. ...and none of the models are able to digest all types of events across the entire world, over the entire 100 year reference time window.
But more importantly, the debate around it is a distraction.
The proven fact is that global warming has occurred and continues, AND that it will cause sea level rise within our lifetime. That fact has sufficient serious consequences for nations/states/cities to begin planning local responses, and maybe coordinate global emissions reductions (though this seems increasingly too little, too late).
And so we end up stuck in this stupid limbo, where because no one can be certain that climate change caused this disaster, nothing is ever done in response to any disaster. We should be viewing these events as a serious call to action.