Climate Alpha reduces the complexity of interpreting and responding to climate volatility.
We gather authoritative raw climate, socio-economic, and market data, and refine it into curated features that offer distilled insights about the impact of climate change on locations.
We then combine related features into thematic indicators for calculations and analysis.
The overall indicator score, a qualitative index of 0-100, profiles a location's relative risk or resilience compared to others. The 'Heat' indicator, for example, consolidates features linked to heat risk and is factored into the calculation of a location's value.
Physical Impact scores quantify the relative risk profile of a location expressed as a percentile on a scale of 0-100. A score of 100 signifies the highest possible risk.
Conversely, Resilience-adjusted Impact scores quantify the relative resilience profile of a location expressed as a percentile on a scale of 0-100. A score of 100 signifies the highest possible resilience.
GLOBAL RISK INDICATORS
Capture the potential damage from physical climate hazards for any global coordinate based on his
torical records and projected under multiple climate scenarios
.
Drought Risk
The increasing frequency and severity of dry spells and droughts imposes substantial stress on water systems in the form of reduced fresh water supply and chronic water shortages.
Curated Features Resolution
Water Quality 4km
Baseline Water Stress 4km
Change from Current Risk 4km
Sources: WRI Aqueduct, CMIP6 Downscaled Climate Variables
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Wildfire Risk
Both natural and man-made wildfires are amplified by dry spells and heatwaves as well as topographical changes such as urban expansion, damaging property and utilities and causing erosion to economic activity while rendering locations uninsurable.
Curated Features Resolution
Burn Probability 30m
Fire Intensity 30m
Increase in Fire Risk 4km
Change from Current Risk 4km
Sources: USDA, CMIP6 Downscaled Climate Variables
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Inland Flooding
Intense precipitation and the increased frequency of storms cause flash flooding that can have a devastating impact on infrastructure and populations, leading to higher insurance premiums, property devaluation and significant costs for adaptation measures.
Curated Features Resolution
Flood Frequency 100m
FEMA Flood Zone Proximity 100m
Storm Frequency 4km
Storm Intensity 4km
Change from Current Risk 4km
Sources: FEMA, NOAA, CMIP6 Downscaled Climate Variables
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Hurricane Wind Risk
Warmer ocean temperatures lead to more intense hurricanes and tropical cyclones with stronger winds that cause severe damage to real estate and negatively impact asset valuations.
Curated Features Resolution
Hurricane Frequency 500m
Hurricane Intensity 500m
Sources: NOAA IBTrACS, STORM
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Coastal Flooding
Global sea level rise increases the frequency and intensity of coastal inundations that causes structural damage to property and infrastructure, increases maintenance costs and renders locations uninsurable.
Curated Features Resolution
Flood Frequency 4km
Flood Intensity 4km
Storm Surge 25km
Change from Current Risk 4km
Sources: Deltares CMIP6 Ensemble
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Heat Stress Risk
Extreme heat and heatwaves significantly increase the energy consumption required for cooling while also presenting grave risks to public health.
Curated Features Resolution
Heatwave Frequency 4km
Heatwave Intensity 4km
Cooling Degree Days 4km
Change from Current Risk 4km
Sources: CMIP6 Downscaled Climate Variables
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
DELIVERY : Extract location-specific analytics via our online platform using direct download and/or REST API, AWS S3 Bucket or via Snowflake Marketplace.
CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS: All risk indicators are available under SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 in accordance with CMIP6.
DATA SOURCES: Each indicator contains the underlying curated features and their values, as well as percentile rankings. Climate Alpha conducts extensive data engineering to create downscaled climate variables from Global Climate Models.
RESILIENCE INDICATORS
Reveal a location's readiness to absorb shocks as measured by its capacity across a holistic range of attributes that are historically significant and frequently updated
.
Infrastructure
Dense, high-quality transportation infrastructure and robust public spending generate multiplier effects for locations over time.
Curated Features Resolution
Infrastructure Quality County or
Airport Density equivalent
Vehicle Miles Traveled
Public Spending
Source: OpenStreetMap, USGS, US Census
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Social Robustness
A composite of demographic and socio-economic features captures how well a community can adapt to and recover from climate-related hazards and other disruptions.
Curated Features. Resolution
Household Debt ZIP or
Poverty Rate equivalent
Health Insurance Coverage
Vulnerable Population
Source: US Census
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Location Wellness
Healthier communities as measured by longevity and access to healthcare correlate to higher prosperity and increasing property values.
Curated Features Resolution
Prevalence of Disease ZIP or
Access to Healthcare equivalent
Life Expectancy
Source: US Census
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Energy Reliability
A robust energy grid with minimal power loss and outages is essential to cope with the pressures of population growth, aging power plants and climate related stress.
Curated Features Resolution
Power Outages County or
Power Loss equivalent
Source: US EPA
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Economic Momentum
Strong economic foundations in terms of employment, income levels, education and home price ratios indicate higher performance markets.
Curated Features Resolution
Employment Ration Census
Median Income Growth. tracts or
Education Attainment equivalent
House Price to Income Ratio
Source: US Census
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Energy Transition
Reducing carbon emission intensity through efficiency measures and renewable energy generation is crucial for achieving a sustainable low-carbon future.
Curated Features Resolution
Emission Rate County or
Renewable Energy Share equivalent
Source: US EPA
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
Curated Features
Heatwave Frequency
Heatwave Intensity
Cooling Degree Days
Change from Current Risk
DATA SOURCES: Each indicator contains underlying curated features and their values, as well as percentile rankings.
INDICATOR COMPOSITION: The composition of the resilience indicators may vary by country in order to include the most relevant features for that location.
DELIVERY: Extr act location-specific analytics via our online platform using direct download and/or REST API, AWS S3 Bucket or via Snowflake Marketplace.
PRODUCT FEATURES
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3 different CMIP6 emission scenarios for 6 different risk categories from the latest downscaled climate models at 25km resolution
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6 r isk indicator scores that measure the increase in climate-change induced risks in the future for any location in the world in 4 periods: Current, Early Century, Mid Century, and End Century
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31 curated climate features that can be used to derive additional insights such as calculating the fina ncial impact of climate change in real estate assets
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Location I mpact coefficients that estimate the aggregated damage to asset value under each climate change scenario by measuring the change in risk in the future compared to the present
DATA TRANSFORMATION PROCESS
We curate state-of-the-art climate and geospatial data from authoritative sources such as NASA, NOAA, and ESA
We analyze and transform the collected raw data with domain knowledge into clean and interpretable features. These features allow users to quantify the impact of climate change across different hazard categories.
We construct indexes from the engineered features to help users easily compare the impact of climate change between different locations, and quantify the intensity of impact.
We refer to the last scientific study and our indicators to calculate the estimate financial damage of climate change to a location across different time periods.
