Climate Mapping for A Resilient Washington

Posted on: 3/07/2023 - Updated on: 3/29/2023

Posted by

CAKE Team

Overview

The Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington webtool provides state agencies, local governments and communities in Washington State with data and information on changes in the climate and related natural hazards to inform planning for climate resilience.

The information is intended for general planning and assessment, such as climate vulnerability assessments, climate resilience plans, climate action plans, or climate resilience elements in comprehensive plans. The information can also be used for internal and external education and communications by providing a common understanding of the expected changes in the climate in your area.

Maps depict changes in the climate and climate-related natural hazards at the scale of the data from climate and hydrologic models. Graphs and tables summarize changes for counties in Washington. Communities and jurisdictions within counties are encouraged to use county summaries because the precision of most climate models is not sufficient to simulate changes at the scale of a city or town, nor to show variation within a county, except where there are significant geographic differences such as steep gradients in elevation.

Users can explore the data by selecting a county and filtering by a sector or climate hazard. For each sector and hazard, a customized list of climate indicators, i.e., changes in the climate and natural hazards, is provided. Projected changes can be explored for multiple future scenarios and 30-year time periods through 2100. Maps, graphs, tables, and data can also be downloaded for use in external reports or presentations.

Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington was funded by the State of Washington and developed by the University of Washington, Climate Impacts Group in partnership with the University of Idaho, Research Data & Computing Services for web development.

Tool Features:

Customizable and downloadable maps, graphs and tables of climate change indicators
Raster format files, useful for GIS applications, available for most maps
Climate indicators summarized for each county in Washington state
Guidance on the type of data and information useful for assessing local variation in vulnerability
Ability to filter the climate indicators by climate hazards and sectors relevant to your purposes.

Audience

State agencies, local governments, and communities in Washington state with the need to consider changes in the climate and related hazards in planning and grant applications.
Planners, engineers, GIS professionals, outreach specialists, and other technical staff.

View Tool

Managing Organizations

University of Washington

The UW is one of the world’s preeminent public universities. Our impact on individuals, our region and the world is profound — whether we are launching young people into a boundless future or confronting the grand challenges of our time through undaunted research and scholarship. Ranked No. 7 in the world on the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities rankings, the UW educates more than 54,000 students annually. We turn ideas into impact and transform lives and our world. For more about our impact, visit our news site, UW News.

Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary research group studying the impacts of natural climate variability and global climate change (“global warming”). Research at the CIG considers climate impacts at spatial scales ranging from local communities to the entire western U.S. region, with most work focused on the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Through research and interaction with stakeholders, the CIG works to increase community and ecosystem resilience to fluctuations in climate.