The Climate Time Machine

As the global climate continues to warm, one may find themselves wondering what kind of temperatures their hometown might experience in the future. The University of Maryland (UM) Center for Environmental Science has developed a new interactive website map called Future Urban Climates that provides the answer for 40,581 locations around the world. With data taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it utilizes climate analog mapping to match a selected location to a second location that it is predicted to feel like in 2080. For example, under a high-emissions scenario that reflects present trends, in 2080 Boston, Massachusetts, is expected to feel like Lakeland, Tennessee, with summers predicted to be 10.7°F (6°C) warmer and winters 11.6°F (6.5°C) warmer than today’s conditions. “In 50 years, the northern hemisphere cities to the north are going to become much more like cities to the south,” says UM’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, who developed the map. “Everything is moving towards the equator in terms of the climate that's coming for you.” Fitzpatrick notes that for some locations closer to the equator, predicted conditions are so extreme that “there is no place on Earth representative of what those places will be like in the future.” The site also allows users to get results from several different climate forecast models, as well as select a reduced-emissions scenario comparable to what would be expected under the Paris Climate Accords, which generally results in a matching city much closer in distance (e.g., Boston is matched with Jarrettsville, Maryland). The map can be found at https://www.umces.edu/futureurbanclimates. [Source: Newsweek]