This map helps answer the question ‘what will my city’s climate feel like in 60 years?’. By selecting your city of interest this OSM-based map will show you what current location has the most similar climate to that forecast for 2080.
This is neat, but I think the impact is diminished by people thinking, "Oh, I live in New York, it's going to be like Louisiana. I visited there once, it's not so bad."
Like, that's not the point. That change comes with unimaginable devastation and crises. Famine and drought leading to pestilence and war. If you are thinking, "Oh, I'll get more use out of my beach house," you're one of the worst humans alive right now.
I haven’t yet looked at the map (I will!), but I’m struck by the idea that perhaps a map should exist that shows how USDA hardiness zones will shift. (I mean - according to best guesses.)
If I had the ability, it would be interesting to make a map that asks users what their favorite local tree or animal is, and tells them how long it will be able to survive near them. Nearly impossible to account for all use cases, but I digress. Even simpler - Go for a map of state trees, flowers, and animals with extinction times for each to let folks know how long each state can hold onto its signature species. Well, for the ones that aren’t already gone, anyway.
I’m thinking about those poor suckers on the other side of the lakes, catching all the humidity the prevailing winds are going to pick up. Michigan is more or less flat from the last glacial period and it’s only just barely not one big marshland. They’d better start building houses on stilts and investing in improving their drainage systems.
Buffalo catches hell from lake effect snow, but just wait until there’s lake effect monsoons.
Northern Utah won't shidt much but the higher temps probably means less snow and more rain during the winter. That's going to mess up a lot. The system is basically dependent on snowpack.
The ski industry going under might have more positives than negatives overall, though.
Interesting... Linz (Austria) will only "move" some 500 km but Hamburg (Germany) 3x farther, ending up further south. Are we really expecting the North Atlantic to heat up more significantly than the continental climate, especially with the potential disruptions to the Gulf Stream?