Climate risk maps

There is a wealth of information available on the climate.gov web site [https://www.climate.gov/maps-data]. On the global climate dashboard one can pull up a variety of informative maps. I’ve displayed the global climate dashboard showing data relevant to some of the topics we’ve been discussing over the past 3 weeks on the futurelearn.com course Climate Change: The Science through the University of Exeter. Below are trends for sea ice extent, heat trapping gasse, etc. some example displays. 

The site also has many other interesting maps including the map below of the average temperature trends in the US (lower 48) since 1895. 

Below we see that average annual precipitation trends (1988-2017) show drier than average conditions in northern and southern California, for example. This past fall these areas saw widespread wildfires and tragic loss of life. 

The site allows the user to display different parameters ( such as temperature and precipitation trends) and to specify maps of average trends for a give month, season or annual period. 

You’ll also find a variety of teaching resources at https://www.climate.gov/climate-and-energy-topics/climate-system.

Climate change is predicted to proceed at an accelerated pace as we enter the Anthropocene. The maps found at https://www.businessinsider.com/best-countries-escape-climate-change-map-2018-1 show anticipated levels of climate change impact globally and on a more detailed regional scale. The figure below gives global scale perspectives. 

There you will see that the most significant carbon emitters can turn out to be at less risk for climate impact. But - as shown above, even in the US, these impacts are not spread evenly across the area. The northwestern states are seeing higher averahe temperature trends, for example.