According to the IPCC: "Global warming is not a smooth, gradual shift. It is possible that just as at the end of the last ice age, there may be an unusual and dramatic jump, and a great increase in the frequency of disasters such as storms, tidal surges, torrential rainfall, drought and extensive forest fires, caused by aberrant weather."
聯合國跨國氣候變遷小組也指出，「全球暖化絕不是平滑地緩緩移動，有可能如上一次冰河期結束時一般，呈現劇烈的異常跳動，風暴、海嘯、豪雨、乾旱、大範圍森林火災等異常天氣所引發的災害，出現頻率將大幅度升高。」