Climate change is a primary threat to greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse), however the mechanisms by which climate affects sage-grouse may be numerous. We reviewed and synthesized the literature describing effects of climate on sage-grouse demography and population performance. Variation in precipitation, drought, and soil moisture underlie patterns of herbaceous growth, protective cover, and food availability across sage-grouse life stages. Nest site selection and nest survival increase with vegetative cover, but most strongly in more-xeric regions, and nest survival may also be sensitive to residual grass cover driven by lagged effects of precipitation. Sage-grouse brood survival and recruitment are sensitive to the availability of mesic habitat resources that are recharged by winter snowpack. Anthropogenic stressors interacting with climate change are altering these ecosystem dynamics. Invasion by annual grasses limits soil moisture for native perennial vegetation, dampens the association between precipitation and sage-grouse population growth, and initiates positive feedbacks with wildfires that impose acute negative effects on sage-grouse demography and cumulative losses of carrying capacity. Given that increasing temperatures and intensified drought cycles are predicted, management to maintain and restore hydrological function would likely benefit sage-grouse persistence in moisture-limited sagebrush ecosystems. Information is preliminary and provided for best timely science.