How Hot Will Your City Get?

In the year 2100 summers in New York will be as hot as Juarez, Mexico is today. Los Angeles can look forward to summers that are as hot as they now get in Belize City.

Climate Central has released a new interactive map which tells you how hot your city will be in the year 2100 if carbon emissions continue as currently predicted. Shifting Cities allows you to choose from a large number of major cities around the world to find out how hot they will get in 2100. When you select a city on the map you are shown the current summer temperature in your city and a city which now has a temperature that your city can expect in the year 2100.


Climate Central's Shifting Cities map is part of a growing trend to map the future impact of climate change around the world. For example Climate Impact Lab's Climate Impact Map also visualizes how global warming will effect temperatures around the world over the rest of this century.

Using the drop-down menu on the Climate Impact Map you can choose to view predicted global temperatures for each quarter of the year or for the whole year. You can also choose to view the number of days which will be below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The timeline below the map allows you to view a choropleth view of any of these selected temperature predictions for the years 2020-2039, 2040-2059 and 2080-2100.

The map includes two choropleth views. The 'absolute level' shows the predicted temperatures around the world for the year selected. The 'change from historical' view shows how much the temperature will increase above the 1986-2005 averages around the globe.


The University of Hawaii has released a similar interactive map which uses expected temperature increases to predict the number of deadly days we can expect from extreme heat around the world for each year up to 2100. Heatwaves: Number of deadly heat days provides a timeline control which allows you to select any year from 1950-2100. The blue dots on the map show historic extreme heat events that have occurred around the world before 2014.

If you click on the map you can view two charts for the selected location. One chart visualizes the number of annual deadly days over time and the other shows the humidity vs. temperature for the current year.


Thanks to NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer we can observe how these increases in temperature will effect sea levels.

By the end of this century the National Climate Assessment estimates that sea levels may rise by up to 6.6 feet. NOAA's interactive map uses the most accurate elevation data available to model how different extents of sea level rise will impact coastal areas in the USA. You can adjust the sea level displayed on the map by adjusting the water level tool from 0-6 feet.

If you select the 'Local Scenarios' tab you can view the potential impact of different sea level rise scenarios on different areas of the country. The Local Scenarios option allows you to adjust the map to view the impact of sea level rise of different orders of severity. It also allows you to see how this impacts the local area by decade (up to the year 2100).

Pollen & Pollution Mapping

The Natural Resources Defense Council has released an interactive Air Quality map of the United States. The map shows the number of days when the concentration of ozone exceeds safe levels. The map also shows areas which suffer from high levels of ragweed pollen.

You can use the map to see the historical tendency for both high ozone and pollen levels at your location. The map also includes a layer which shows areas which suffer from both high levels of smog and high levels of pollen. The combined effect of high ozone and pollen levels can be particularly dangerous for asthma sufferers

If you select a state on the map you can view the percentage of the population living in counties reported to have ragweed and unhealthy smog days. You can also view the number of adults and children who suffer from asthma in the state.

Mapping Climate Science

There have been a lot of interactive maps released this year which show how global warming is likely to effect sea levels, global temperatures and the number of deadly heat days that we can expect in the future. All these maps are based on our present knowledge of climate change.

Most climate change deniers appear to now accept that the evidence for global warming is beyond debate. Instead many climate change deniers have moved on to now claim that the global warming, that they used to deny the existence of, is not caused by man but is just part of the natural changes to the planet's climate. You know that natural climate change which normally takes place over thousands of years.

A new interactive map from Carbon Brief has plotted scientific studies which have looked at whether extreme climate events around the world have been influenced by human activity or not. The Attributing Extreme Weather to Climate Change map plots 144 extreme weather events for which scientists have published peer-reviewed studies. The studies on the map have been color-coded to show which ones found evidence of human influence, those that found no evidence of human influence and those that proved inconclusive.

Carbon Brief's analysis of these 144 studies suggests that "63% of all extreme weather events studied to date were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change".

Bloomberg's Perspective on Climate Change

Bloomberg's Climate Change in Perspective is an interesting mapped visualization of the effects of climate change around the world. This interactive visualization uses the story map format with a 3d globe to explore the causes of climate change and how it is effecting planet Earth.

As you progress through the story map the 3d globe spins and zooms to highlight different locations around the world. The globe zooms into photographs illustrating locations where climate change is already having a noticeable effect and uses timeline visualizations to illustrate the effects of climate change over time.

Climate Change in Perspective includes a visualization of the effect of rising global temperatures on Arctic sea ice coverage. This visualization uses a timeline control to show how Arctic sea ice coverage has shrunk over recent years. Another timeline shows how CO2 emissions have increased in countries around the world since 1990. This section also includes an animation of CO2 emissions traveling around the world over the course of one year.

Mapping Future Climate Change

The Climate Impact Lab's Climate Impact Map visualizes how global warming will effect temperatures around the world over the rest of this century.

Using the drop-down menu you can choose to view predicted global temperatures for each quarter of the year or for the whole year. You can also choose to view the number of days which will be below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The timeline below the map allows you to view a choropleth view of any of these selected temperature predictions for the years 2020-2039, 2040-2059 and 2080-2100.

The map includes two choropleth views. The 'absolute level' shows the predicted temperatures around the world for the year selected. The 'change from historical' view shows how much the temperature will increase above the 1986-2005 averages around the globe.


The University of Hawaii has released a similar interactive map which uses expected temperature increases to predict the number of deadly days we can expect from extreme heat around the world for each year up to 2100. Heatwaves: Number of deadly heat days provides a timeline control which allows you to select any year from 1950-2100. The blue dots on the map show historic extreme heat events that have occurred around the world before 2014.

If you click on the map you can view two charts for the selected location. One chart visualizes the number of annual deadly days over time and the other shows the humidity vs. temperature for the current year.


Thanks to NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer we can observe how these increases in temperature will effect sea levels.

By the end of this century the National Climate Assessment estimates that sea levels may rise by up to 6.6 feet. NOAA's interactive map uses the most accurate elevation data available to model how different extents of sea level rise will impact coastal areas in the USA. You can adjust the sea level displayed on the map by adjusting the water level tool from 0-6 feet.

You can also use the 'Local Scenarios' tab to view the potential impact of different sea level rise scenarios on different areas of the country. The Local Scenarios option allows you to adjust the map to view the impact of sea level rise of different orders of severity. It also allows you to see how this impacts the local area by decade (up to the year 2100).

Insects in the City

There are over 560 species of insect living in Melbourne. The most common species is the Minute Brown Scavenger Beetle Cortinicara. All these insects play a very important role in maintaining the bio-diversity of Melbourne. They pollinate flowers, transform biomass, regulate pest populations, recycle nutrients, disperse seeds and provide food for other animals and birds.

Between January 6th and March 10th 2015 insect surveys were undertaken in parks and gardens throughout the City of Melbourne. Each insect survey recorded the number and types of insects that live in each habitat. You can explore the results of Melbourne's insect survey on Insects - The Little Things that Run Our City.

You can view which areas of the city were studied using the Insect Biodiversity in the City of Melbourne interactive map. If you select the individual survey sites displayed on the map you can view a scatter-plot, beneath the map, showing the number of insects and the number of different insect species found in the site's insect survey.

If you scroll down to the 'Interaction' section you can view more details of the individual surveys carried out at each park and garden. An interactive graph breaks down the survey results for each site to show the number of different insects of each species, the number found in each type of habitat and the number of insects in each function group.

Degradation of the Amazon Rainforests

Most people are aware of the devastating effect of deforestation on the Amazon Rainforest. Not so many people are aware of the equally worrying 'degradation' of forests. With deforestation the forest is completely cleared and left for pasture, monoculture or simply abandoned. Forest degradation is the thinning of tree density which leads to the removal of important biodiversity. It is often caused by logging, fire, drought or hunting.

The extensive forest clearance caused by deforestation can be relatively easy to spot using aerial surveys or even satellite imagery. Forest degradation on the other hand can be a lot harder to monitor from the air as the tree canopy can still exist above the thinning tree density.

The Silent Forest project has been started by a team of Brazilian and foreign scientists to assess the extent and impact of forest degradation in the Amazon Rainforest. As part of this monitoring the project has released an interactive map to show Contributing Factors to Degradation in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. The map shows the extent to which fire, logging, hunting and fragmentation are leading to forest degradation.


The Silent Forest website also includes a hexagon grid map of the Brazilian state of Pará. The grid map shows the percentage loss of biodiversity across the whole state.

Mapping Death from Global Warming

In 2003 in Europe 70,000 people died during an extreme heatwave. As global warming increases countries around the world are likely to experience more and more periods of life threatening extreme heat. By the year 2100 it is estimated that 74% of the world's population will be exposed to deadly heatwaves.

The University of Hawaii has released an interactive map which predicts the number of deadly days we can expect from extreme heat around the world for each year up to 2100. Heatwaves: Number of deadly heat days provides a timeline control which allows you to select any year from 1950-2100. The blue dots on the map show historic extreme heat events that have occurred around the world before 2014.

If you click on the map you can view two charts for the selected location. One chart visualizes the number of yearly deadly days over time and the other shows the humidity vs. temperature for the current year.

Pollution Free Walking Routes

Nitrogen dioxide emitted by motor vehicles has been above the legal limit in London for longer than most people care to remember. This means that pedestrians & cyclists can't really avoid pollution in the capital. However it is possible to cut your exposure to air pollution in half by avoiding the city's busiest roads.

The Cross River Partnership can help you find a healthier route for your walking and cycling journeys with a new interactive map, the Clean Air Route Finder. The map allows you to enter a starting point and a destination for your walk and then suggests routes that avoid the busiest roads.

The Clean Air Route Finder in fact suggests three different routes for each query. The red route shows the most polluted walk or ride. The green suggestion shows you the route with the lowest pollution. The amber route is somewhere in the middle. The map also tells you the distance and the estimated walking or biking time for each route.

Cycling and walking route finders depend to a large degree on the underlying routing data. The Clean Air Route Finder works really well in my neighborhood, fully utilizing road free bike paths and canal towpaths (you might be surprised how many other biking & walking direction maps ignore these routes). Judging by its choice of the cleanest routes it also seems to have a good understanding of the level of traffic on London's roads.

Street View Cars for Science

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has teamed up with Google to use Google Maps Street View cars to measure air quality. Google's Street View cars were equipped with sensors to measure nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and black carbon as they drove the streets capturing the panoramic Street View imagery for Google Maps.

You can read more about the experiment on EDF's article, Mapping Air Pollution with New Sensors. The article includes a Google Map of the results from testing the air quality in Oakland, California. The map provides three heat map views of Oakland's streets showing where the Street View cars found the highest levels of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and black carbon.

The map also includes a number of information markers to indicate spots around Oakland with pockets of high pollution. If you select these markers you can read the EDF researchers' explanation of what local causes contribute to the high pollution at this location.


This isn't the first time that Google has teamed up with EDF to use Street View cars as measuring tools. In 2014 Google teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund to equip Street View cars with air-quality sensors to detect natural gas leaks from utility pipes under city streets. Using the data collected by the Street View cars Google and EDF then created detailed maps showing where gas leaks were found and where gas pipes need to be fixed or replaced.

In July 2014 the EDF released maps from the experiment in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. The maps revealed that Boston and New York's ageing utility pipes result in a large number of leaks, while Philadelphia's newer gas pipe network is responsible for far fewer leaks.

Google also used their specially equipped Street View cars to map out more than 1,000 miles of roads in Inglewood, Chino and Pasadena. You can see the results of these test drives in the EDF's Los Angeles Area: Snapshot of Natural Gas Leaks map. The data gathered revealed an average of about one leak for every four miles driven in Pasadena, one leak for every five miles in Inglewood and one leak for every five miles in Chino.

The Oceans are our Garbage Cans

Around 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the world's oceans every single year. This plastic is dangerous to marine life and, once it enters the food chain, ultimately dangerous to the health of the human race.

The Ocean Cleanup organisation believes that between 1.15 and 2.41 million metric tons of that plastic in the oceans originates from the world's river systems. Two thirds of it from the rivers of Asia. To help explain how and where plastic ends up in the world's oceans the Ocean Cleanup has released an interactive map, River Plastic Emissions to the World’s Oceans.

The map shows river systems around the globe. The predicted input from each river system is shown at the coast using scaled circular markers. These predicted inputs are based on a model which looks at population density, waste management, topography, hydrography, the locations of dams and the reported concentration of plastic in rivers around the world.


You can see where all that plastic goes on Sailing Seas of Plastic, an interactive mapped visualization of the concentration of plastic in the world's oceans. According to the map there are 5,250 billion pieces of plastic adrift on the seas of the world.

This dot density map shows the estimated concentration of floating plastic in the oceans. Each dot on the map represents 20 kg of floating plastic. The estimations are based on the results of 24 survey expeditions (2007-2013) and on wind and ocean drift models.

If you want you can also overlay the sailing tracks of the 24 survey expeditions on top of the dot map.

Shrinking Ice Caps, Rising Seas

The National Snow and Ice Data Center has created a series of interactive maps which visualize Satellite Observations of Arctic Change. The maps allow you to see how sea ice, snow cover and frozen ground have all been shrinking during the 21st Century. Other maps plot air temperature changes in the Arctic and the changes to Arctic vegetation.

Global warming is causing observable changes to ecological systems in the Arctic. Air temperatures in the Arctic are rising and sea ice extent is declining. Even Arctic vegetation is changing with tundra being replaced by shrubs.

Each of the NSIDC interactive maps uses NASA satellite data and research to plot changes to the Arctic from 1979 to 2015. The maps allow you to observe the data for each year in this period to observe how global warming has effected the ecological systems of the Arctic.


Mapbox has also released a map which allows you to view monthly Arctic sea ice changes all the way back to 1976 (when consistent satellite measurements began). Mapping Arctic Sea Ice uses data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center to show the sea ice cover for any month.

If you select a month from the timeline you can not only view the extent of the sea ice coverage for that month but also a line graph showing the total ice area in km2 and the temperature anomaly above the norm over time. The graph shows a clear trend of rising temperatures in the Arctic and a fall in the area of sea ice coverage.

The polar projection in the Arctic Sea Ice map was created with D3.js. You can easily create your own polar projection in Leaflet using Arctic Web Map,an Arctic specific web mapping tool, consisting of an Arctic-focused tile server. If you want to know how Mapbox created their polar projection then read the explanation below the map on the Mapbox blog.


MasterMaps has created another impressive mapped visualization of the Arctic ice cap. The Arctic Sea Ice map allows you to compare the monthly sea ice cover in the Arctic for any month since 2006.

If you select a month from the bottom timeline you can then adjust the year on the top timeline to make a direct comparison of any month for each year from 2006 to 2015. Every time you adjust the timeline the Arctic see ice coverage is automatically updated on the map. This map was also created with help from D3.js.


At the other end of the world Antarctica is also losing sea ice. Like nearly everything else glacial land ice obeys the law of gravity. Ice sheets therefore flow downhill. They normally do this very, very slowly. Unfortunately we don't live in normal times.

Global warming has warmed the oceans. Warmer oceans have undercut Antarctica's glaciers, causing them to flow quicker and quicker. With over 60% of the world's freshwater locked in Antarctica's ice this is a huge concern. If this ice melts we will see a global rise in sea level and coastal cities around the world will be in danger of inundation.

The New York Times has created a series of maps to help explain how global warming could lead to the melting of Antarctica's ice sheets and cause rising sea levels around the world. In Antarctic Dispatches glacier ice flow is beautifully illustrated in a series of animated maps. The danger of global rising seas is explained in maps showing areas of Antarctica that have lost ten feet or more of ice since 2010.

Part 3 of Antarctic Dispatches uses a scrolling map to help illustrate the amount of water locked up in Antarctica's ice sheets. The scale of the Ross Ice Shelf is illustrated by overlaying the route of the New York marathon on top of satellite imagery of the ice shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf is huge!

Singapore Sinking Under Water

Almost 20% of Singapore is reclaimed land. The country is therefore very worried about the likely effects of rising sea levels. In order to illustrate the possible impact of sea level rise the Straits Times has released a virtual reality visualization called Singapore Underwater.

Singapore Underwater users virtual reality to show how Singapore might look in the future if global warming leads to rising sea levels. Singapore Underwater explains the reasons why sea levels are rising around the world. The visualization also looks at how Singapore might try to mitigate against rising seas and the possible impact of land loss and saltwater contamination of the country's farmland & reservoirs.

Singapore Underwater is best viewed with a VR headset but can be viewed on a desktop, tablet or mobile device

Goodbye New Orleans

The world's second largest polluter appears set to pull out of the Paris climate accord. Thanks to NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer we can observe one likely outcome of this action on the coastal areas of the United States.

By the end of this century the National Climate Assessment estimates that sea levels may rise by up to 6.6 feet. NOAA's interactive map uses the most accurate elevation data available to model how different extents of sea level rise will impact coastal areas. You can adjust the sea level displayed on the map by adjusting the water level tool from 0-6 feet.

You can also use the 'Local Scenarios' tab to view the potential impact of different sea level rise scenarios on different areas of the USA. The Local Scenarios option allows you to adjust the map to view the impact of sea level rise of different orders of severity. It also allows you to see how this impacts the local area by decade (up to the year 2100).

Ice Flow in Antarctica

Like nearly everything else glacial land ice obeys the law of gravity. Therefore ice sheets flow downhill. They normally do this very slowly. Unfortunately we don't live in normal times.

Global warming has caused the the oceans to also get warmer. The warmer ocean waters undercut Antarctica's glaciers, causing them to flow quicker and quicker. Over 60% of the world's freshwater is locked in Antarctica's ice. If it melts we will see a global rise in sea level and coastal cities around the world will find themselves underwater.

The New York Times has created a series of maps to help explain how global warming could lead to the melting of Antarctica's ice sheets and cause rising sea levels around the world. In Antarctic Dispatches glacier ice flow is beautifully illustrated in a series of animated maps. The danger of global rising seas is explained in maps showing areas of Antarctica that have lost ten feet or more of ice since 2010.

Part 3 of Antarctic Dispatches uses a scrolling map to help illustrate the amount of water locked up in Antarctica's ice sheets. The scale of the Ross Ice Shelf is illustrated by overlaying the route of the New York marathon on top of satellite imagery of the ice shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf is huge!

Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia

More than one million acres of forest have been destroyed in Appalachia by mountaintop removal coal mining. This environmentally devastating form of strip-mining has also permanently destroyed over 500 mountains and 2,700 mountain ridge-tops in the region.

You can examine the huge scale of the destruction to the mountain environment of Appalachia on SkyTruth's Mountain Top Removal interactive map. The map uses Google Map's aerial imagery to show the environmental impact of strip-mining in Appalachia. It also allows you to view how that environmental destruction has progressed over the last 30 years.

To create the map SkyTruth examined satellite imagery of the area dating back to 1976. SkyTruth searched for evidence of strip-mining in the satellite imagery by looking for mines so large that they crossed ridge tops and impacted a significant area of ridge top. You can view the results of this research by using the 5 yearly active mining layers on the SkyTruth map. These layers allow you to view how strip-mining has progressed in the region since 1985.

Mapping Borneo's Deforestation Disaster

In 1973 three quarters of Borneo was covered in tropical forest. Since 1973 over one third of that forest has been lost due to industrial logging and the spread of industrial oil palm and pulpwood plantations. The Atlas of Deforestation and Industrial Plantations in Borneo shows where Borneo's tropical forests have been lost and the incredible scale of this continuing deforestation.

The interactive map includes three main layers. One layer shows the 2015 area of forest cover. A second layer shows industrial oil-palm plantations. The third layer visualizes industrial pulpwood plantations. If you use the menu at the bottom of the map the 'Simple Deforestation Layer' allows you to swipe between maps showing forest cover in 1973 and in 2015. Another option in this menu lets you view industrial plantations based on how much time elapsed between deforestation and their establishment.


It isn't just Borneo which is facing this scale of environmental destruction. The world's largest producer of palm oil is Indonesia. To grow oil palms vast areas of tropical forest in Malaysia and Indonesia have been destroyed.

Greenpeace has responded to this environmental disaster by creating an interactive map to provide information on company concession information and how these concessions relate to peatlands, fire hotspots and deforestation alerts in Indonesia.

The Protecting Forests & Peatlands in Indonesia map includes a number of data layers which allow you to view where palm oil, wood fibre, logging and coal mining concessions have been awarded in Indonesia. You can click on the concession areas on the map to learn more about the company that holds the concession and the size of the concession. The map also includes layers which allow you to view orangutan & tiger habitats, forestry land cover and peat lands. The map can also show active fires in the country and fires since 2013.


If you want to learn more about why forests are being lost to palm oil plantations then you should take a look at the Guardian's From Rainforest to Your Cupboard: The Real Story of Palm Oil. This interactive study explores the environmental impact of the increasing production and use of palm oil around the world.

One of the biggest disasters caused by the increase in palm oil consumption is the destruction of the rainforests in order to create palm oil plantations. The Guardian illustrates the effect of this deforestation in Indonesia with a before and after interactive map using satellite imagery showing primary forest loss in the Riau province of Indonesia between 2000 and 2012.

The Guardian has also created a timeline map to visualize the global increase in palm oil production. This map illustrates the growth in global palm oil production over the last 50 years. A similar timeline map is used to show the growth in palm oil consumption in countries across the world over the same 50 year time span.

The Ecoregion Atlas of the World

The Ecoregions 2017 interactive map provides a guide to the world's 846 ecoregions. Using the map you can view the distribution of the different ecoregions around the globe and discover more about each individual ecoregion shown on the map.

Ecoregions are ecologically and geographically defined areas which have distinct natural characteristics, species and habitats. The ecoregions are colored on the map by the type of habitats that exist within them. If you hover over an ecoregion on the map you can view more details about its natural habitat and the biogeographic realm in which it exists.

The Ecoregions 2017 map also includes a number of other layers. These include a layer showing the global distribution of biomes, a layer showing the protected status of regions around the world and a 'realms' layer showing the Earth's eight biogeographic realms.

Mapping Urbanization in China

The New York Times has created an impressive mapped visualization showing the incredible rate of urbanization in China’s Pearl River Delta. Just thirty years ago this area was mainly rural farmland and waterways. Since then the city of Guangzhou and surrounding industrial towns have all grown at an incredibly rate. The city and towns have now all merged to create one huge industrial urban environment.

In Rising Waters Threaten China’s Rising Cities the NYT illustrates this growing urbanization with a map that shows how the natural environment has been built over during the last thirty years. As you scroll through the article the rust colored areas increase on the map as the years go by and the towns grow in size.

The NYT article examines some of the causes of the rise in flooding in the area. You only need to look at the number of waterways in the delta in the map above and the huge loss of the surrounding natural environment to realize one of the major causes of flooding in the Pearl River Delta.

Air Pollution Near Schools

Greenpeace has released a map showing all nurseries and schools in England and Wales that are located near dangerously polluted roads. Currently there are at least 2,092 educational institutions that are within 150 metres of a road breaching the legal limit for NO2 pollution.

Greenpeace's Road Pollution map shows the pollution levels of motorways and A roads and the locations of schools and nurseries near dangerously polluting roads. Because the road pollution is limited to motorways and A roads Greenpeace's map probably vastly underestimates the number of educational institutions suffering from dangerous air pollution.