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Climate Change Impacts on Water Availability in Alaska

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Published: Jul 9 2009
Home » Maps, Graphs & Data » Temperature Scenarios: monthly data 1980-2099
 

Temperature Scenarios: monthly data 1980-2099

submitted Sep 22, 2008 (updated Sep 26, 2008)

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Welcome to the Google Earth interface for the Scenario Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP). This tool allows users easy access to interactive maps of a wide range of climate projections for the state of Alaska.

To access SNAP projections in Google Earth, you will first need to download and install free Google Earth software, which is available here: http://earth.google.com/ (If you already have Google Earth, you may be automatically alerted that an update is needed when you first open SNAP climate files.)

To view SNAP climate projections, download the KML file using the Download button above. When you open the file, it should automatically open in Google Earth. If it does not, open Google Earth, go to "Open" in the dropdown menu at the top of your screen under "File," and browse to where you have saved the file.

Make sure the sidebar is visible; if it is not, open it under "View" in the dropdown menu. In the sidebar, you should now see SNAP files listed under "Places." Be sure that there is a check mark next to "Temporary Places." Click on each folder name to view a description of its contents in a popup text box. To remove unwanted features (e.g., roads) from your map, click on check marks under "Layers" in the sidebar.

Open and close folders within "Temporary Places" by clicking on the plus (+) or minus (-) signs next to each folder. You will be able to select by month (Jan through Dec) and by year (1980 through 2099). Thus, when top-level folders are open the list of options will be very long. Closing folders when they are not in use will making viewing easier. Which map you view on the screen depends on which radio buttons are selected. For example, if you would like to see temperature projections for the A1B emissions scenario for the ECHAM5 model for May 2037, open the A1B folder, then open the ECHAM5 folder within it, open the May folder, then highlight the year 2037.

As with all Google Earth maps, you can zoom in and out for a finer scale view, and you can rotate and shift your view. Use the controls on the upper right portion of the screen to adjust, reposition, and zoom. SNAP maps in Google Earth, like other SNAP maps, are at 2km resolution.

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