Observed and projected climate shifts 1901–2100 depicted by world maps of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification

In a previous paper we presented an update of the highly referenced climate classification map, that of Wladimir Koppen, which was published for the first time in 1900 and updated in its latest version by Rudolf Geiger in 1961. This updated world map of Koppen-Geiger climate classification was based on temperature and precipitation observations for the period 1951–2000. Here, we present a series of digital world maps for the extended period 1901-2100 to depict global trends in observed climate and projected climate change scenarios.World maps for the observational period 1901-2002 are based on recent data sets from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia and the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) at the German Weather Service. World maps for the period 2003–2100 are based on ensemble projections of global climate models provided by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The main results comprise an estimation of the shifts of climate zones within the 21st century by considering different IPCC scenarios. The largest shifts between the main classes of equatorial climate (A), arid climate (B), warm temperate climate (C), snow climate (D) and polar climate (E) on global land areas are estimated as 2.6–3.4 % (E to D), 2.2–4.7 % (D to C), 1.3–2.0 (C to B) and 2.1–3.2 % (C to A).
 
The underlying data of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps are available for free for use in scientific research and can be obtained as zipped ASCII-files, shape files for GIS software, or as KMZ files for use in Google Earth.