Temperature Projections For the 50 US States over the Next 100 years:
An Analysis Based on Data Contained in the Climate Wizard
Interactive Tool
Introduction
While science irrefutably tells us that the world’s climate is changing, the on-the-ground
impacts of those changes are not well understood by many Americans. Even less
understood by many is how those changes will directly impact their states, neighborhoods
and own backyards.
Much of today’s scientific data on climate change is inaccessible not only to average
Americans, but also to land managers, policy makers and others who are responsible for
developing and implementing plans on the local level aimed at combating climate
change. There are relatively few tools that translate cutting-edge climate science and
climate-model simulations into a form that people can use at local or regional scales.
To help average Americans, policy makers and other local stakeholders better understand
how climate change will directly impact their states, The Nature Conservancy has
analyzed the latest and most comprehensive scientific data available to calculate specific
temperature projections for each of the 50 US states over the next 100 years.
The Nature Conservancy also worked with the University of Washington and the
University of Southern Mississippi to develop a new on-line tool that combines the latest
scientific data and climate models with geographic information systems (GIS), statistical
analysis and web-based mapping services. This tool, Climate Wizard
(www.climatewizard.org), represents the first time ever that the full range of climate
history and future projections for specific landscapes and time frames have been brought
together in a user-friendly format that is available to a mass audience.
Methodology and Results
Analyzing data from global climate models compiled for the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, The Nature