Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.umces.edu/content/climate-north-american-cities-will-shift-hundreds-miles-one-generation

Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation
February 12, 2019

Appalachian Laboratory

New web application helps visualize climate changes in 540 North American cities

FROSTBURG, MD (February 12, 2019)—In one generation, the climate experienced in many North American cities is projected to change to that of locations hundreds of miles away—or to a new climate unlike any found in North America today. A new study and interactive web application aim to help the public understand how climate change will impact the lives of people who live in urban areas of the United States and Canada. These new climate analyses match the expected future climate in each city with the current climate of another location, providing a relatable picture of what is likely in store.

“Within the lifetime of children living today, the climate of many regions is projected to change from the familiar to conditions unlike those experienced in the same place by their parents, grandparents, or perhaps any generation in millennia,” said study author Matt Fitzpatrick of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “Many cities could experience climates with no modern equivalent in North America.”

Under current high emissions the average urban dweller is going to have to drive more than 500 miles to the south to find a climate similar to their home city by 2080. (Matthew Fitzpatrick/University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)

Scientists analyzed 540 urban areas that encompassed approximately 250 million inhabitants in the United States and Canada. For each urban area, they mapped the similarity between that city’s future climate expected by the 2080s and contemporary climate in the western hemisphere north of the equator using 12 measures of climate, including minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation during the four seasons.

The study also mapped climate differences under two emission trajectories: unmitigated emissions (RCP8.5), the scenario most in line with what might be expected given current policies and the speed of global action, and mitigated emissions (RCP4.5), which assumes policies are put in place to limit emissions, such as the Paris Agreement.

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https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08540-3

[Bayard]

1. Scary beyond belief

On this map, Nashville (closest to us....."For high emissions, Nashville's climate in 2080 will feel most like today's climate near Saraland, Alabama. The typical summer in Saraland, Alabama is 3.3°F (1.8°C) warmer and 56.3% wetter than summer in Nashville."

We are already setting records for rain here in the past few weeks. And one day, it can be close to 70 degrees, and drop down to 20's at night.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. That's actually a good deal less than the changes we face around here

(under the "high emissions" scenario)

[shanny]

3. I want to see the flip side:

i.e. For those who live in Denver, say, where do they move to find the climate they have been accustomed to?

p.s. Canada May need a wall

[NickB79]

4. Maybe I should buy some land up by Duluth.