Climate Maps of the Future
This ain't your father's meteorology
I’m sitting inside a house about 30 kilometers west of New York City and we’re on day 2 of experiencing this:
The surreal orange skies are caused by smoke from more than 100 wildfires in Canada. The spring has been warmer and drier than normal and we’re on track for a record level of Canadian wildfires. Of course people in other parts of the world have experienced this for years, but in this case it feels surreal because the fires are just so far away, blown south by a massive storm system in Nova Scotia. Millions of people in the U.S. have been advised to stay inside, and we’re hearing the smoke could stick around awhile. I’m glad I didn’t pay for a beach house this summer!
And rather than trying to judge what to wear by looking at the usual weather forecast, I’ve been trying to judge when I can simply go outside by looking at maps such as this from the New York Times:
Or this from the BBC:
Temperature? Rain? Who cares? I just want to know if I can go outside without my eyes burning.
If I showed you these maps a week ago and said, “In the future, these maps will be more important than the weather forecast you consult today” it would sound alarmist. But here we are.
Climate change increases the duration of hot, dry weather, followed by heavier rains, so we’re likely to see more new maps that go beyond temperature and precipitation, and their everyday use in mass media and social media. As designers we can help people interpret the weather in order to live their lives, and we can start now by designing and improving maps such as: