A major new review published October 12 in the journal Earth's Future, an AGU journal, concludes that more than three decades of climate "fingerprint" research provides overwhelming evidence that greenhouse gas emissions are driving changes throughout Earth's climate system.

The review, led by Professor Benjamin Santer at the University of East Anglia with colleagues from MIT, Colorado State University and the University of Edinburgh, traces the history of fingerprint studies — a field that uses patterns and timing of climate changes to distinguish human from natural influences.

"The climate science that's been published since the 2009 Endangerment Finding is now stronger than in 2009; the evidence is incontrovertible," Santer said.

The review is a direct response to what the scientists call a "deeply flawed" July 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Energy that challenged the credibility of climate fingerprinting and questioned the scientific basis for the EPA's 2009 Endangerment Finding — the legal determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health in the U.S. According to earth.com, the EPA reversed the Endangerment Finding in February 2026.

The researchers argue the DOE assessment fails to reflect both the weight of evidence available in 2009 and significant scientific advances made over the past 17 years.

Fingerprinting works by comparing patterns: the Sun, volcanoes and greenhouse gases would each change the climate differently, and researchers check which pattern the measurements match.

earth.com reports that earth.com interviewed Santer, who noted that solar warming would heat the atmosphere uniformly, whereas measurements show the lower atmosphere warming while the stratosphere cools — exactly as Manabe and Wetherald predicted in 1967.

AGU says fingerprinting techniques have evolved to the point where human influence can be identified throughout the climate system, and the post-2009 period included the 10 warmest years in instrumental surface temperature records, enhancing the human signal over natural noise.

According to earth.com, human-caused patterns now show up in ocean saltiness, snow cover, cloud cover, drought, streamflow timing in western U.S. rivers, and the yearly cycle of the seasons.

The review also covers the extensive body of evidence linking human-caused climate change to extreme events.

"Many rigorous fingerprint studies by multiple research groups worldwide have enhanced confidence in the reality and seriousness of human-caused climate change," said Professor Susan Solomon of MIT, adding that independently monitored parts of the climate have been altered "from the top of the stratosphere to the depths of the world's oceans."

AGU notes that extreme events affect health and welfare through heat stress, flooding, wildfires and crop damage, and Dr. Gabi Hegerl of the University of Edinburgh said methods now estimate how greenhouse gases changed the frequency and intensity of specific events.

earth.com reports that the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave was found to be nearly impossible without global warming.

The revocation of the Endangerment Finding has prompted concerns about human health impacts and efforts to reduce emissions; a further concern, per AGU, is that rescinding it could open the door to ending other environmental regulations in the U.S. Santer framed the stakes for the field itself: "A different kind of 'Endangerment Finding' is that the continuation of rigorous attribution science is endangered. It's inconvenient science for those who seek a fossil fuel-intensive future, because it connects the dots between fossil fuel burning and harms to our personal health, to the health of our planet and to the health of our societies and economies."

According to earth.com, whether the EPA's reversal will survive legal challenges remains unclear, and the authors want their review used in those decisions and court cases while pressing scientists to keep working on extreme events that remain hard to attribute.

The paper — "Fingerprint Evidence for Human Effects on Climate: Advances after the 2009 Endangerment Finding" by Santer, Susan Solomon, David W.J.

Thompson, Qiang Fu and Gabriele C. Hegerl — is available in Earth's Future (DOI: 10.1029/2026EF009129), alongside an earlier commentary fact-checking the July 2025 DOE report.