Overview

See climate projections—including very long–term extrapolations—for 46 communities in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Users can look at temperature and precipitation variables under five different climate models or a model average, choosing selected months. For example, users can chart projected precipitation in May and June for Fort McPherson, years 2000–2300, using a five-model average.

The tool also explains how different levels of greenhouse gas emissions create the various paths to future climates known as Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Extended Concentration Pathways (ECPs).

RCPs describe paths to future climates based on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. They represent climate futures—scenarios—extrapolated out to the year 2100, based on a range of possible future human behaviors. RCPs provide a basis for comparison and a “common language” for modelers to share their work.

These scenarios allow extensions of RCPs for 2100–2300 by expanding the data series for greenhouse gas and land use. ECPs are intended to provide rough estimations of what climate and ocean systems might look like in a few centuries regardless of the driving forces of emissions (demography, policies, technology, and investment).