The interactive map, called ClimateEx, also allows researchers to study what areas of the globe have seen the most dramatic changes in climate over time. Not surprisingly, this includes portions of the warming arctic. But perhaps surprisingly the map also demonstrates that the tropics around the equator also have seen big changes. Stepinski said this is due not to variations in temperature but in monthly rainfall.

“When people think about climate change, they think about temperature: global warming,” he said. “But climate has many components, including precipitation. People often consider temperature and precipitation separately. But our mathematical model includes both.”

Netzel said the map is especially useful at comparing and contrasting unrelated or geographically distant places since month-to-month weather can vary widely depending on the seasons.

“ClimateEx is mostly an educational tool,” Netzel said. “Using ClimateEx, it is easy to get answers to questions such as where in the world do we have a climate similar to Houston’s? Where can I find a place with a climate as pleasant as Florida’s?”

The map also could help predict which areas will have climates more conducive to extreme weather phenomena such as tornadoes in places where historically there were few, he said.

“ClimateEx enables an easy search for locations where climate change may lead to the occurrence of such extreme phenomena in the future,” he said. “The user simply indicates the location where tornadoes are presently frequent and ClimateEx finds all locations where in 50 years the climate will be conducive to tornadoes.”

Stepinski and Netzel wrote about their map project in an article published this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

“The climate is always changing,” Stepinski said. “But it usually changes on a geological timescale. It’s not surprising that the climate today is different from the climate a half-million years ago. But now we’re experiencing changes on a scale of 100 years. That’s a completely different thing.”

A warmer climate means there is more energy in the atmosphere. This is leading to increasing frequency and severity of storms and longer droughts according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a collaboration of government agencies. That panel’s 2017 report concluded that the planet is warming because of human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, since the Industrial Revolution.

“If you were looking at climate change at a scale of a million years, you wouldn’t worry too much,” Stepinski said. “But if you see dramatic changes on the order of a few decades, it’s a big problem.”

Netzel said the map isn’t designed specifically for disaster planning. But after seeing what the future might hold, the map could be useful to planning organizations, he said.

“It can support strategic, long-term planning and decision-making on the future development of urbanized space,” he said. “It helps to prepare for emerging threats such as increasing the frequency or appearance of extreme weather phenomena. Knowledge about the possibility of hazards will give city planners time to prepare appropriate response plans.”

Stepinski said the map is easy enough to use and understand that ordinary people could use it for more personal reasons like planning their next vacation or contemplating a move to a new city.

So what’s the global climate twin of Cincinnati?

Stepinski said it’s Vicenza, Italy.

“You will see that both Cincinnati’s and Vicenza’s climates have a similar progression of weather conditions throughout the year,” he said. “So a person would experience the passing of the seasons in the same way in both places.”

The world is your classroom

Geographers study the spatial dimensions of human activities and physical landscapes. At the University of Cincinnati, geography students learn about the many ways this field influences business, government and public policy. Check out the degree programs offered in the Department of Geography or explore UC's many undergraduate or graduate programs.