Interactive Map Shows Climate Change Impacts in Great Lakes Region

The University of Michigan and Great Lakes Adaptation Assessment for Cities teamed up to create this interactive map that shows the impacts climate change is expected to have on Great Lakes counties’ economies, infrastructures and vulnerable populations.

Here’s what they found for Door County:

• About 31 percent of the county’s employees work in climate-vulnerable sectors, including tourism, farming and timber.

• Door County’s average summer temperature has risen by .4 degrees, and winter temperatures have risen by 2.3. (That’s based on the 30-year averages from 1951-1980 vs. 1981-2010.) Spring precipitation has dropped by more than 2 percent, and our summer drought index rose by .4.

• Between 2000 and 2010, the county’s population dropped by almost 1 percent, but its residential area grew by almost 25.

• Door County’s vulnerable population (those more than 65 years old, living below the poverty line, who are diabetic, etc.) was found to be moderately vulnerable to climate change.