Climate Futures Toolbox

The Climate Futures Toolbox allows users to download and analyze climate data, which can be turned into visuals like warming stripes diagrams using the statistical software R. These warming stripes show the average yearly maximum temperatures from 1950-2050 predicted by four different climate models for Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Stripe color ranges from dark blue, representing the coldest (avgerage yearly max) temperatures (12°C or 54°F), to red, representing the warmest (average yearly max) temperatures (21°C or 70°F). They demonstrate that different climate models often forecast different possible futures, with some models predicting more relatively warm years (red stripes) and others showing more cool years (blue stripes). By comparing the outcomes of different models, resource managers can look for patterns across all possible futures, such as the warming temperatures observed across all four models in Wind Cave National Park predictions.