New online tool allows users to see climate change in California

Ever wonder just how hot it’s going to get in your town if the climate changes as scientists predict? Or whether your beachfront house is going to be underwater if sea levels rise?

The answers to those questions – and more – can now be accessed through a nifty interactive Internet tool designed by Google, in collaboration with the California Energy Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey, several California universities and others.

The tool, called Cal-Adapt, was built specifically to address projections about climate change in California. It went online earlier this month.

Users can search for information on temperature projections, snow pack forecasts, and wildfire and sea level changes. 

You can look at a map and get a glimpse of how the whole state will fare. Or you can provide your street address and get a localized forecast for your neighborhood or county.

The site also provides users access to the raw data used to make the projections.

Google’s former CEO, Eric Schmidt, described the tool in 2009 as “part of our efforts to get people to understand what’s happening around us.”

 

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