Lithuania launches interactive climate change map

Lithuania's Hydrometeorological Service (Meteo LT) has launched an interactive website where users can view and download data on past climate conditions and projected changes up to 2100. The data are available for every municipality in the country, allowing users to see how the climate in their area may develop.

According to a Meteo LT press release, the project includes more than 30 climate indicators. They cover average air temperatures and precipitation levels, as well as the frequency of hot and cold days, droughts and strong winds.

Depends on the emissions scenario

Users can explore how these indicators may change by 2100, depending on the future trajectory of the global economy and how far greenhouse gas emissions are cut. The changes are shown on an interactive map and graph.

The projections draw on data from the international Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) and two globally recognised future scenarios. SSP2-4.5 assumes medium emissions, while SSP3-7.0 assumes high emissions. For each indicator, the portal gives average results from an ensemble of several dozen climate models.

Projections are not weather forecasts

Meteo LT stresses that the published data are climate projections rather than weather forecasts. They illustrate long-term trends, not the weather expected on specific days or in particular years.