Climate Shift Index

The Climate Shift Index was mentioned by ITV Anglia presenter Chris Page in his forecast last night.

It is produced by Climate Central who perform a similar role to Carbon Brief in providing reports in the arena of Climate Change.

This work is significant as the Trump administration is deleting and stopping access to research and reports on Climate Change in the USA. This will not stop it happening by the way... it will just make it harder to prepare, and make the impacts even worse... and not just in the US.

Check out the Global Map showing how much the climate has shifted.

The Climate Shift Index (CSI) is a system that quantifies the influence of climate change on local daily temperatures around the world.

The Climate Shift Index ranges from -5 to +5. Positive levels indicate temperatures that are becoming more likely due to climate change (negative scores indicate conditions that are becoming less likely).

A CSI of level 5 means that a temperature is occurring at least 5 times more frequently when compared to a world without human-caused carbon pollution. This temperature would be very difficult to encounter in a world without climate change – not necessarily impossible, just highly unlikely.

Here's how to interpret the scale from 1-5 and in the negative too.

And here is the interpretation guide for specific numbers. 

Zoom in to your local area to see what the likely impact of climate change is on the weather in your area as the summer goes on....

Images: Climate Central

Uninhabitable Earth

Thanks to GoogleMapsMania for the tipoff to an interactive globe visualising some of the findings which influenced the latest and terrifying IPCC report on the state of the climate and the narrowing time frame for doing anything about it.

Produced by the German Morgenpost.

A few screenshots:

Climate Change - Teach with GIS

The new ESRI UK Education Team resources for teaching about the Climate Emergency have now been released and are ready for use. They explore climate change in the UK, and were produced in partnership with the Met Office.

They include Teaching Resources for different key stages including Primary.

They also include a Teacher Knowledge section.

This includes the useful resource on COP26 below.

A typically stylish and useful set of resources generously shared.

National Trust Climate Change Threat Map

This has appeared today and been mentioned on the BBC News site.

It's created using ArcGIS mapping from ESRI.

Visit the map here. A web app.

National Trust director for land and nature Harry Bowell said: "This map is a game-changer in how we face the threat climate change poses to the places we care for.

"While the data draws on a worst-case scenario, the map paints a stark picture of what we have to prepare for. But by acting now, and working with nature, we can adapt to many of these risks."

The charity says staff are already taking action to cope with rising temperatures:

Heat-tolerant plants are being grown at Ham House in London, which the map warns could often face 40C (104F) heat by 2040
At Lyme Park in Cheshire, which was hit by a major flood in 2019, trees are being planted on moorland to slow the flow of water and reduce flooding risks
At Mount Stewart in County Down, where rising sea levels have contributed to coastal erosion, a shelter against incoming water has been made
At Malham Tarn, in the Yorkshire Dales, where a 18th-Century barn collapsed due to soil shrinkage, teams will plant trees and use specific plants to manage the water table

The map plots the impacts of extreme heat and humidity, landslides, coastal erosion, shrinking and shifting ground due to wet and dry conditions known as "soil heave", and high winds, in 2020 and 2060.

Take a look and see how your own home area fares.

Google Earth 4 Degrees

A very exciting new Google Earth layer was launched this week.

The layer has been produced in association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and shows information about a possible 4 degree rise in temperature

A range of YOUTUBE videos are available for use with the layer.

The Tyndall Centre were involved in its creation...

Don't forget the Teachers TV programmes which I was involved in, which has a focus on a poem looking at various degrees of warming and the potential impact on the UK.

Climate Change Resource on Google Earth

Thanks to Ollie Bray for the tipoff to a resource for Google Earth which is being launched in time for Copenhagen climate change conference in December.

Watch the video for more details...

Glaciation Imagery in Google Earth

Google Earth Blog has a very useful post about some remarkable imagery showing glacial retreat...

Has link to this VIMEO VIDEO, which is one example of available material...

AK-03 Columbia Glacier from Cliff from Extreme Ice Survey on Vimeo.

Climate Change

Climate Change layer from DEFRA
Climate Change impacts around the world...