The Aspen Global Change Institute last week released the User Guide to Climate Change Portals, a comprehensive guide to the many climate change data portals available online. Targeted to planners, policymakers, and concerned residents in the US Mountain West — but applicable to all regions — this free guide aims to help users of all backgrounds make sense of the vast web of climate change data online.
The User Guide can help utility leaders find and interpret the climate information most appropriate for their community’s needs. The portal has links to a range of climate assessments, visualization tools, and access to download CMIP5 and CMIP3 climate change data and provides upsides and downsides to using the various tools. The guide also includes links to online guidance on climate adaptation and climate service providers, including the Water Utility Climate Alliance’s Leading Practices in Climate Adaptation work and the EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool.
The portal will be a useful tool for utility climate change work in the Mountain West and beyond and will be especially helpful for utilities with limited staff time and resources to look for specific climate data and tools.