Tech Life Putting polluters in court
Mar 31, 2026
Alex de Vries-Gou, researcher and founder of Digi-Economist who analyzes digital environmental impacts, and Yasmin Morgan-Griffiths, investigative tech reporter, dig into attribution science used to link extreme weather to human causes. They also examine AI data center energy use and the growing problem of e-waste. Short, clear takes on how science, law and tech collide.
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How Attribution Science Quantifies Climate Influence
- Attribution science links specific extreme weather events to how much climate change changed their likelihood or intensity.
- Scientists compare observations with climate model simulations of the real world and a counterfactual world without human-caused warming to calculate how many times more likely an event became.
Recent Events Where Climate Made Disasters Worse
- Real-world studies show large effects: 2025 wildfires in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus were made 10 times more likely by climate change.
- WWA found Hurricane Melissa was made five times more likely and Pakistan floods rainfall up to 22% more intense, giving concrete courtroom-ready examples.
Legal Systems Are Opening To Attribution Evidence
- Courts are beginning to accept that major fossil fuel companies can, in principle, be held liable for their contributions to climate change.
- The RWE case showed attribution evidence can establish causal links even if that particular suit was ultimately dismissed on specific grounds.