Climate Explorer: Improved Access to Local Climate Projections

Area of Science:

• Climate Science
• Environmental Planning
• Risk Assessment

Background:

• Climate change poses significant risks to communities and infrastructure.
• Effective climate resilience planning requires accessible and actionable data.
• Existing climate information is often not tailored for local decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide practitioners with climate change risk information at relevant spatial and temporal scales.
• To empower local stakeholders to take action and build resilience.
• To integrate authoritative climate data into an accessible, interactive tool.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Climate Explorer (CE) tool within the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT).
• Visualization of decade-by-decade climate changes and end-of-century projections.
• Integration with the U.S. Global Change Research Program's National Climate Assessment (NCA) for seamless data access.
• Alignment with user-defined thresholds for assessing potential impacts on valued assets.

Main Results:

• CE enables decision-makers to visualize projected climate changes at the county level.
• Users can assess how future climate conditions may impact critical assets.
• The tool facilitates the transition from static reports to dynamic, customizable data exploration.
• Consistent climate data is provided through collaboration among U.S. Global Change Research Program federal agencies.

Conclusions:

• The Climate Explorer enhances community preparedness for climate-related hazards.
• Accessible and interactive climate data supports informed decision-making for resilience.
• The integration with NCA provides a more comprehensive understanding of climate risks.
• The CRT and CE are valuable resources for governmental entities, NGOs, businesses, and individuals.