With her mentor, Jerry Meehl, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), she published one of the first papers looking at changes in extremes because of human-made warming.

The paper, from 2004, predicted that global warming would bring more intense, frequent and longer lasting heat waves.

In the last years, her research considers impacts of climate change on the human system, including economy, agriculture, water resources.

[citation needed] Tebaldi modelled the impact of sea level rise on storm surges along the coasts of the United States.

[6] Tebaldi was a lead author for two of the latest reports of the international body for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.