Recent/climate and future/climate

Introduction

recent/climate and future/climate make the world's recent climate data and IPCC future climate projections accessible for analysis at weather station, basin and country scale, using a simple dashboard interface that highlights key uncertainties and provides outputs that help understand recent and future climate trends   

recent/climate

recent/climate uses data from the global historical climatology network (GHCN) daily and monthly datasets. The Global Historical Climatology Network Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset includes over 130,000 stations in >180 countries.  ~66,000 current stations report precipitation data.  More than 25,000 current stations provide temperature data. Temperature records date back to the 1800s, with many stations having over 100 years of data. Precipitation data span a similar period, supporting detailed climate analysis and modelling.  Other climate variables are included where available.  The data are raw, with quality control flags applied for each record.  

The Global Historical Climatology Network Monthly (GHCN-Monthly) dataset contains monthly mean temperature  for ~26,000 stations and precipitation summaries  for more than 120,000 stations report monthly precipitation totals, including over 33,000 current observing sites. Temperature records extend from the early 1700s to the present, and precipitation from the 1800s. The data are available in raw, quality controlled only or  fully homogenized versions, making them a key resource for climate monitoring and historical analysis.

recent/climate helps visualize and explore these global weather station data. It supports climate research, education, and policy by making these data available for station and country level trend analysis. Users can analyse historical trends, understand data quality and gaps, examine weather extremes, and apply insights relevant to many fields,  including agriculture and water management.  A range of outputs from the tool are shown below. 

School lesson inserts for using recent/climate are available at edustation

recent/mclimate (monthly)

recent/mclimate helps visualize and explore the GHCN monthly data in three forms:

QCU – Unadjusted Observations: Raw station-reported monthly temperature data with minimal quality control. Suitable for those needing original data values.

QCF – Quality-Controlled Observations:  Includes the same data as QCU, but with failed or suspect values removed via QC checks. Recommended for general observational analysis.

QFE – Homogenised Data: Bias-adjusted using the Pairwise Homogenisation Algorithm.

Typically covers the 1961–1990 reference period. Best for climate trend analysis.

future/climate

future/climate explores global climate futures at country and basin level in a dashboard-based interface. It supports understanding and analysis of national and watershed-level IPCC CMIP6 climate projections from multiple GCMs. Differences between scenarios and geographies can be explored alongside model uncertainties.  The data can be explored alongside national level poverty data. 

School lesson inserts for using future/climate are available at edustation