• Climate Change Primer
• Introduction
• What is Climate Change
• The Climate System
• Climate Variables
• The Energy Balance
• Natural Climate Variations
• Extreme Weather Events
• Climate Change Models and Scenarios

• Climate Observations

• Regional

• Temp Change 1900-2000
• 1900-2000 Trends
• U.S./Mid-Atlantic Trends
• Extreme Temp Change

• Local

• Trends in Temp/Precip Averages
• Trends in Temp/Precip Extremes
• 12 month profile

• Future Scenarios
• Global Emissions Scenarios
• From emissions to warming
• Temperature projections
• Frequent Questions
• In Depth Model Summary
• Why are scenarios needed
• Types of Scenarios
• Scenarios based on Model Outputs

• Climate Models and Projections
• Regional
• Watershed
• State
• Local

The Global Climate Model Mapping Tools allow the user to evaluate climate models with observations and see the future projections of those models under two greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The seven climate models were selected by CARA researchers based on the availability of model output for the two scenarios of interest. The models differ in their output for a number of reasons, including spatial resolution in the atmosphere and ocean, treatments of land hydrology, and treatments of sea ice. Using this tool you can evaluate how well the models simulate the current climate and the way the climate has changed over the 20th century. You can then see the projections the models make over the 21st century.

Basic explanations of the information presented in the tool is listed below but if you would like to go directly to the tool you can follow these links: Present Climate or Climate Change

Each of the Flash-based tools initially present maps of observed climate averages as a baseline for comparison. Temperature, precipitation and seasonal information can be toggled as applicable using the text links near the upper left as shown in the screen shot below:

Clicking the Model Evaluation arrow link at the bottom of the window will produce an additional set of maps like those in the figure below. This bottom row of maps indicates how the selected climate model simulates climate for the same time periods as the observed climate maps above. A visual comparison may allow you to see which climate most closely matches the observations for your portion of the mid Mid-Atlantic region. The results from the different models can be selected using the text links near the bottom of the window. Alternatively you may use the "View All Models" link to produce a screen showing maps of all the climate models. The Climate Change tool will additionally show the model's projected results for three 30-year periods in the 21st century

Once you have determined the most representative model for your locality you may proceed to the "Local Projections" visualization to see how the model has projected future climate for your area.

Penn State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Rhode Island, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are collaborating with the U.S. EPA and private and public stakeholders of the mid- and upper-Atlantic region. Support for CARA is provided by the Global Change Research Program, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Cooperative Agreement R-83053301).

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