Abstract

Applying Local Climate Projections to Conservation and Community Planning
Track: Climate Change
Authors: Jessica Leonard

Climate change is a global problem that is already having severe local impacts. These changes are projected to increase during the rest of the 21st century. While resources dedicated to global and national solutions are growing, resources available for planning at local or regional scales are limited.

The Geos Institute uses GIS to incorporate climate modeling data in community-based climate change adaptation planning. We have developed Python scripts that use the built-in geoprocessing functionality of ArcGIS to access these large files and produce cartographic and tabular output used in climate change adaptation planning processes.

This presentation will discuss the application of these datasets in both our ClimateWise® process, which addresses the need to integrate planning across natural and human communities, and our Conservation Blueprint program, which identifies priority areas expected to provide species and ecosystems with the greatest likelihood of persistence and function in the next century.