New research shows extreme weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle now produce 30 percent more rain than before humans arrived on earth.

A quick analysis of the two days where Hawke’s Bay was most affected was not able to definitively say how much human input played into the wider picture.

But it could say that there is no other plausible explanation for an increase in rainfall other than a warming planet.

Principal NIWA scientist Dr Sam Dean joins us now.

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