Climate Change in the Salish Sea Bioregion
Climate change has already altered temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe, and these effects are projected to intensify over the 21st century. While this is a global phenomenon, the rate and specific patterns of change vary regionally. Locally focused analyses are therefore crucial for understanding and preparing for regional climatic changes. Unfortunately, many tools and reports that explore climate change are focused either on the whole globe or on a specific country or other political jurisdiction. This is a particularly significant problem for transboundary regions such as the Salish Sea, in which the full scope of regional climate change can only be understood through cohesive data and maps spanning the U.S.-Canadian border. Until now, no comprehensive assessment of climate change in the Salish Sea region has been available.
These interactive maps can be used to explore how our climate has already changed and how it is projected to change by the end of the 21st century. The maps use a combination of historical climate station records, statistically estimated (interpolated) climate surfaces, and global climate model projections to quantify and visualize both observed historical trends and projected future changes to temperature and precipitation across the Salish Sea's coastal watersheds in Washington state and the province of British Columbia.
This work is part of an ongoing project funded in part through Dr. Flowers' Salish Sea Fellowship.
Links to:
Read the Emerging Issues in the Salish Sea article about this project
Flower, A., Wang, X., Furness, N. and Bradford, E.L. (2025). Climate Change in the Salish Sea Region: Historical
and Projected Future Trends in Temperature and Precipitation. Emerging Issues in the Salish Sea, Issue 8,
C.R. Elliser (Ed.). Salish Sea Institute, Western Washington University.