Monday, May 27, 2019
Hotter or Not?
The world's four warmest years were 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. If that doesn't convince you about the truth of global heating then you can always refer to Axios' Climate Change Globes.
These two side-by-side interactive globes visualize the annual average surface temperature change across the world before and after 1970. Because the globes are interactive you can spin them around to see the extent of climate heating everywhere in the world. The article accompanying the interactive globes reveals that 2019 already looks like being another record year for global temperatures. In other news the Arctic sea ice extent in April was a record low and carbon dioxide levels have passed 415 parts per million for the first time in human history.
Buzzfeed has created two interactive maps which show how the climate emergency is affecting temperatures in countries across the globe. How Climate Change Has Already Transformed The Earth features two maps. One shows how temperatures have risen over the last 138 years. The other reveals how sea levels have risen since 1993.
The first interactive map visualizes the rate of global warming around the world since 1880. Click anywhere on the map and you can view a graph showing the changes to the average temperature at that location for the last 138 years. As well as creating a graph of temperatures over time the map includes a choropleth layer which reveals where temperatures have risen since 1950. This layer provides a stark illustration of how global warming has affected locations around the world, in particular in the Arctic. If you click on individual years on the interactive temperature graph you can see by how many degrees the temperature has risen at the selected location.
If you want to know how hot your hometown will become if climate heating continues then you can find out using a clever interactive map from 23 Degrees. Enter your location into the tool and you can find your climate analog for the year 2080. For example in 2080 London will experience weather which resembles the climate in Lima today. Frankfurt in Germany will be as hot as Malawi and living in Berlin will be like living in Lesotho in southern Africa.
You can find your 2080 climate twin using The Summer of 2080 Will Be This Warm interactive map. If you enter your location or click on your location on the map you can view the town or city in the world which has a climate now which is similar to the climate you can expect in your location in the year 2080. The map uses two different climate models. This allows you to find your climate twin for a global heating scenario of 4.2 degrees or 1.8 degrees.
When you search for your climate twin the map displays some details of the kind of weather experienced by your twin now (and which you can expect to experience in the year 2080). This includes the annual rainfall and the number of extreme hot and cold days.
Here in Miami Beach, we have seen almost a foot of sea level increase. At high tide, the water comes in from the bay and floods parts of the City. I don't want to know what 2080 will be like. What else can be done and what can us as individuals do now?
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