Washington, Dec 14 (IANS): Providing a modified approach to the relationship between global warming and extreme weather conditions, a new study focuses on weather events that - at the time they occur - are more extreme than any other factor.

Since high-quality weather records are found to be only 100 years old, most scientists have been reluctant to say if global warming affected particular extreme events.

"Understanding whether the probability of those high impact events has changed can help us to plan for future extreme events, and to value the costs and benefits of avoiding future global warming," said Noah Diffenbaugh, associate professor at the Stanford University in the US.

"The media are often focused on whether global warming caused a particular event," Diffenbaugh said.

In a paper to be presented at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Diffenbaugh outlines three elements: a long record of climate observations; a large collection of climate model experiments; and advanced statistical techniques to analyse both the observations and the climate models.

"Decision makers need to appreciate the influence of global warming on extreme climate and weather events," Diffenbaugh added.