Extreme weather and climate change

Extreme weather in the United States.

Superstorm Sandy strikes the East Coast.

In its aftermath some wonder whether extreme weather events around the world are linked to global warming.

As scientists and policymakers prepare for the Doha climate conference it is a question on more minds.

It's also an issue raised by U.S. President Barack Obama at his first post election news conference.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, SAYING:

"We do know that there have been extraordinarily--, there have been an extraordinarily large number of severe weather events here in North America, but also around the globe. And I am a firm believer that climate change is real, that it is impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions and, as a consequence, I think we've got an obligation to future generations to do something about it."

Delegates from 190 countries will meet in Doha at a U.N. conference next week to work on emissions cuts under a new climate pact.

It comes at a critical times says Janet Redman, of the Institute for Policy Studies.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) JANET REDMAN, THE CO-DIRECTOR OF THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ECONOMY NETWORK AT THE INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES, SAYING:

"We've heard for 20 years now scientists telling us that extreme weather is one of the trends that we would see when we have a warmer planet, and I think that's coming to fruition right now. It's coming faster than we thought it would, which is the scary reality."

The World Bank warned this week that the world is likely to warm by 3-4 degrees by the end of the century and extreme weather will become the "new normal."