Interactive app illuminates climate change around the globe

January 10, 2019 - By GPS World Staff

A new interactive app by Esri models the cumulative number of climate hazards likely to occur under different emissions scenarios for any place on Earth through 2100. The app visualizes the index of 11 hazards, including warming, drought, heatwaves, fires, precipitation, floods, storms, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry. Users can see how severely locations around the world will be affected by these cumulative hazards under different global mitigation scenarios.

Esri created the app in partnership with the University of Hawaii’s Camilo Mora, lead author of a study in Nature Climate Change, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the simultaneous occurrence of multiple climate hazards strengthened by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on humanity. Mora’s analysis of thousands of peer reviewed scientific papers reveals 467 ways in which human health, food, water, economy, infrastructure and security have been impacted by multiple climatic changes.

By clearly visualizing the threats that our world’s ecosystem faces at every level, the maps and data hammer home how location intelligence can help with understanding what is at stake in making decisions, even at a global scale. Visualize the data here.