WorldClim version 2.1 is a database of high spatial resolution global weather and climate data, covering both the present and future projections.
Details
IMPORTANT: If you use this dataset, make sure to cite the original publication:
Fick, S.E. and R.J. Hijmans, 2017. WorldClim 2: new 1km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas. International Journal of Climatology 37 (12): 4302-4315. doi:10.1002/joc.5086
Present-day reconstructions are based on the mean for the period 1970-2000,
and are available at multiple resolutions of
10 arc-minutes, 5 arc-minutes, 2.5 arc-minute and 0.5 arc-minutes. The resolution
of interest can be obtained by changing the ending of the dataset name
WorldClim_2.1_RESm, e.g. WorldClim_2.1_10m or WorldClim_2.1_5m
(currently, only 10m and 5m are currently available in pastclim). In pastclim, the datasets are given
a date of 1985 CE (the mid-point of the period of interest). There are 19 “bioclimatic” variables, as well as monthly
estimates for minimum, mean, and maximum temperature, and precipitation.
Future projections are based on the models in CMIP6, downscaled and de-biased using WorldClim 2.1 for the present as a baseline. Monthly values of minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and precipitation, as well as 19 bioclimatic variables were processed for 23 global climate models (GCMs), and for four Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs): 126, 245, 370 and 585. Model and SSP can be chosen by changing the ending of the dataset name WorldClim_2.1_GCM_SSP_RESm.
Available values for GCM are: "ACCESS-CM2", "BCC-CSM2-MR", "CMCC-ESM2", "EC-Earth3-Veg", "FIO-ESM-2-0", "GFDL-ESM4", "GISS-E2-1-G", "HadGEM3-GC31-LL", "INM-CM5-0", "IPSL-CM6A-LR", "MIROC6", "MPI-ESM1-2-HR", "MRI-ESM2-0", and "UKESM1-0-LL". For SSP, use: "ssp126", "ssp245", "ssp370", and "ssp585". RES takes the same values as for present reconstructions (i.e. "10m", "5m", "2.5m", and "0.5m"). Example dataset names are WorldClim_2.1_ACCESS-CM2_ssp245_10m and WorldClim_2.1_MRI-ESM2-0_ssp370_5m. Four combination (namely FIO-ESM-2-0_ssp370, GFDL-ESM4_ssp245, GFDL-ESM4_ssp585, and HadGEM3-GC31-LL_ssp370) are NOT available.
The dataset are averages over 20 year
periods (2021-2040, 2041-2060, 2061-2080, 2081-2100).
In pastclim, the midpoints of the periods (2030, 2050, 2070, 2090) are used as the time stamps. All 4 periods
are automatically downloaded for each combination of GCM model and SSP, and are selected
as usual by defining the time in functions such as region_slice().