Higher temperatures lead to increased rates of evaporation, including more loss of moisture through plant leaves. Even in areas where precipitation does not decrease, these increases in surface evaporation and loss of water from plants lead to more rapid drying of soils if the effects of higher temperatures are not offset by other changes (such as reduced wind speed or increased humidity). As soil dries out, a larger proportion of the incoming heat from the sun goes into heating the soil and adjacent air rather than evaporating its moisture, resulting in hotter summers under drier climatic conditions.

An example of recent drought occurred in 2011, when many locations in Texas and Oklahoma experienced more than 100 days over 100°F. Both states set new records for the hottest summer since record keeping began in 1895. Rates of water loss, due in part to evaporation, were double the long-term average. The heat and drought depleted water resources and contributed to more than $10 billion in direct losses to agriculture alone.

Extreme weather includes weather that is unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal. Extreme events are often based on recorded weather history and the most unusual ten percent. There is evidence that anthropogenic climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of some extreme weather events. Confidence in the association of extreme weather and other events with anthropogenic climate change is highest in changes in the frequency and magnitude of extreme heat and cold events, with some confidence in increases in extreme precipitation and drought intensity.Extreme weather has effects on natural ecosystems as well as on human society. For example, global insurer Munich Re estimates that natural disasters in 2015 totaled more than $90 billion in losses.

There has been a significant increase in most measures of Atlantic hurricane activity since the early 1980s, when high-quality satellite data became available. 4 and 5) storms. Recent increases in activity have been attributed in part to higher sea surface temperatures in the region where Atlantic hurricanes form and pass. Numerous factors have been shown to affect these local sea surface temperatures, including natural variability, anthropogenic emissions of heat-trapping gases, and particulate pollution. Quantifying the relative contributions of natural and human factors is an active focus of research. Storm waves reach further inland as they crest over higher sea levels due to warming. Hurricane development is influenced by more than just sea surface temperature. How hurricanes develop also depends on how the local atmosphere responds to local sea surface temperature changes, and this atmospheric response depends critically on the cause of the change. For example, the atmosphere reacts differently when the local sea surface temperature increases due to local forcing. As more sunlight decreases particulate pollution that allows the ocean to warm, sea surface temperatures rise more evenly around the world due to increased amounts of human-made heat-trapping gases. By the end of this century, models predict an increase in the average number of the strongest (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes. Models also predict more precipitation in hurricanes in warmer climates, with increases averaging about 20% near the center of hurricanes.There has been a substantial increase in most measures of Atlantic hurricane activity since the early 1980s, the period during which high quality satellite data are available.,, These include measures of intensity, frequency, and duration as well as the number of strongest (Category 4 and 5) storms. The recent increases in activity are linked, in part, to higher sea surface temperatures in the region that Atlantic hurricanes form in and move through. Numerous factors have been shown to influence these local sea surface temperatures, including natural variability, human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases, and particulate pollution. Quantifying the relative contributions of natural and human-caused factors is an active focus of research.cars in storm surge.Storm surges reach farther inland as they ride on top of sea levels that are higher due to warming.

Hurricane development, however, is influenced by more than just sea surface temperature. How hurricanes develop also depends on how the local atmosphere responds to changes in local sea surface temperatures, and this atmospheric response depends critically on the cause of the change., For example, the atmosphere responds differently when local sea surface temperatures increase due to a local decrease of particulate pollution that allows more sunlight through to warm the ocean, versus when sea surface temperatures increase more uniformly around the world due to increased amounts of human-caused heat-trapping gases.

By late this century, models, on average, project an increase in the number of the strongest (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes. Models also project greater rainfall rates in hurricanes in a warmer climate, with increases of about 20% averaged near the center of hurricanes.