Introduction

Hello! Welcome to the world of KML technology for Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index®. Thank you for being a partner in connecting the dots between daily temperatures and climate change.

This document provides a summary of helpful information about the Climate Shift Index for broadcast meteorologists who are using Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index–KML data.

<aside> ❗ If you’re not already signed up for the CSI-KML service, please start by doing so here:

Climate Shift Index KML Sign-Up Form

</aside>

Get started here 👇

<aside> ℹ️ Quick start information:

Getting the KML files: After filling out a sign-up form, you should have received URLs to the KML file through email.
- For The Weather Company MAX systems, use the KML File “Import from URL” feature to incorporate the appropriate KML file into your scenes.
- For Baron Lynx systems or other uses, contact the Climate Central team at [email protected] for additional support if needed.
Climate Central asks:
- Please mention the phrase “Climate Shift Index” on air when you use the KML file. This helps us track your usage and watch your hits!
  - We’d also appreciate it if you can say “Climate Central,” but we’ll be looking for “Climate Shift Index” first.
- Please use the Climate Central logo in your scenes that show the Climate Shift index.
- Please don’t share these URLs outside your team; each URL is individually encoded for your use.
- We’d love it if you sent a quick email to [email protected] whenever you use the KML file on-air or online, so we can know to dig it out from our various tracking services.
- Feel free to the hashtag #climateshiftindex if you use any clips or images on social media.
For issues or problems:
- Send a note to [email protected]. These emails are read and received by Lauren Casey, Bernadette Woods Placky, Shel Winkley, or Richard Kim at Climate Central. </aside>

Cassie Wilson, KSHB, Kansas City

Fernanda Ramos-Garces, Univision

Alex Garcia, KABB, San Antonio

Key background info

We are constantly evolving the Climate Shift Index KML project. That being said, we really want to hear from you. Please send feedback to [email protected] for any ideas or feature suggestions.

The URLs you have received correspond to daily low (TMIN) and daily high (TMAX) Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels for yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. For Max machines, you should be able to load each URL into a scene using Max’s “Import from URL” feature for KML files.

At around 0z each day, each KML map should update to the next day. So you will want to pay attention to the updates to make sure that you are still referencing “today” and “tomorrow” properly.

The polygons generated by the KML files are styled and resolved to our global map. However, please note that the KML files specifically display CSI for TMIN and TMAX, while the global map’s default display is TAVG. Therefore, while the global map will closely resemble your KML files, ensure you select the desired global map product under advanced settings.

Examples of how to talk about CSI

🗣️ Here are some successful ways broadcasters have communicated CSI . Feel free to adapt as you see fit:

CSI More Likely.jpg

CSI Less Likely.jpg

Climate Shift Index.gif

TMAX, CSI 4

“This is a new scientific tool from our partners at Climate Central called the “Climate Shift Index.” It shows the influence of climate change on daily temperatures. Today’s forecast high is a “4” on the Climate Shift Index, which means this extreme heat is 4 to 5 times more likely as a result of human-induced climate change.”

TMIN, CSI 1

“Our partners at Climate Central have developed a new scientific tool called the “Climate Shift Index,” which shows the effect of climate change on our daily weather. The Climate Shift Index shows us that today’s overnight lows were made 1.5 to 2 times more likely as a result of climate change.This means that our warm night was made even warmer due to the global warming caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.”

TMAX, CSI -1

“Let’s take a look at the Climate Shift Index, from our partners at Climate Central. This shows the effect of human-caused climate change on daily temperatures. Today, we have a CSI of negative 1, which means that this cool weather is 1.5 to 2 times less likely and days like today will be rarer in a warming world.”

Wildfires

“The smoky skies and poor air quality we’ve been experiencing have a climate change connection. As you can see from the Climate Shift Index, developed by our partners at Climate Central, the hotter Canadian temperatures that helped fuel the wildfires were made 2 to 3 times more likely as a result of climate change.”