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What can you tell me about how climate is already changing in my area?

Knowing how climate has already changed for a region or location can be very important for several reasons:

1) If changes occurring locally are different than those for the region as a whole, localized differences can be used to explain how future climate changes may respond at the small-scale.  

2) If trends (noticeable changes) have been observed they provide stronger evidence for how climate may continue to change.

3) Significant climate changes that have already occurred can be used to explain how the natural system is responding to climate change, which can give a picture of how future climate may continue to impact the area.

We have developed several different products for showing and telling how climate is changing in the region and at specific locations.

Resource Short Description
Great Lakes Fact Sheet
  • provides a short narrative of how climate is changing in the Great Lakes region and the climate impacts that have been observed 
Station Climatologies
  • observational records as well as a narrative description of how climate has changed for specific sites within the Great Lakes region
  • this is most useful to applications that are geographically close to one of the stations that are available
Climate Division Climatologies
  • climate divisions are geographical areas that share similar climate characteristics
  • historical observations and narrative descriptions are presented for each division
  • climate divisions are more appropriate than station climatologies if an application is not located near one of the available stations

 

FAQ Tags: 
Historical Climate Information
Climate Observations