New Study Links Current Events to Climate Change - ABC News

An analysis by a top government scientist says the extreme heat and drought seen in the U.S., Europe and other regions in recent years must be global warming. Specifically the study by NASA scientist James Hansen blames climate change for last year's drought in Texas and Oklahoma, the 2010 heat wave in Russia and the 2003 European heat wave that led to tens of thousands of deaths.

AP

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2011 file photo,... View Full Caption

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2011 file photo, Sailboats and a floating dock lie on the dry, cracked dirt in a harbor at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City as drought continues to be a problem across the state. The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare and off-the-charts that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist says.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) Close

Hansen told The Associated Press in an interview that the world is now experiencing scientific fact.

Hansen's research is respected by other climate scientists. But he is also an activist who has pushed for curbing greenhouse gases. Some experts don't expect the new study to change any minds. Hansen's work was published online Saturday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.