Do you have a question regarding the Climate Impact Atlas for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (BES)? Perhaps you can find the answer on this FAQ page. Is your question not listed? Then contact us via the Helpdesk.
General
For whom is the Climate Impact Atlas BES intended?
The Climate Impact Atlas is primarily intended for professionals who are directly or indirectly engaged in climate adaptation on the BES islands. However, the atlas can also be used by citizens or other interested parties. Currently, the atlas can be used for risk dialogs. The atlas is not yet suitable to base adaption plans on.
What does the atlas consist of?
The atlas contains a map viewer and climate stories for Bonaire. In addition, it provides climate statistics for Bonaire and for Saba and Sint Eustatius. In the future, a map viewer and stories will also be developed for Saba and Sint Eustatius.
How can the maps in the atlas be used?
The maps in the atlas can be used to gain a first impression of the physical consequences of climate change in an area, and how this might impact residents and the environment. The maps can also help to place the issue of climate adaptation on the political agenda.
What has prompted the development of the Climate Impact Atlas?
The Dutch Climate Impact Atlas was developed in 2007, when several Dutch provinces and research institutes felt the need to provide low-threshold access to national climate information. Since 2012, this atlas has been managed by Climate Adaptation Services (CAS). In 2023, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management commissioned CAS to develop a Climate Impact Atlas for the BES islands, which will go online in December 2023. Read more about us.
How often is the Climate Impact Atlas updated?
We aim to update the Climate Impact Atlas BES with new, additional maps whenever an opportunity arrives, and new data is available.
Use
How to use the Climate Impact Atlas BES?
The Climate Impact Atlas helps you to gain a first impression of how climate change will impact the islands. The Atlas consists of a map viewer and climate stories for Bonaire. It also contains climate statistics for Bonaire and for Sint Eustatius and Saba.
What can you do with the Climate Impact Atlas?
For local and regional governments, the atlas constitutes a basis for risk dialogues. Furthermore, the Atlas is of relevance for, e.g., educational establishments, college and university students, businesses, and residents.
How can you use climate stories?
The climate stories provide background information for the maps that are shown in the map viewer. They tell you what you see on the maps and help you to get to work with the information. The atlas comprises three climate stories: future coastlines, land surface temperature and coral reef health. To access the climate stories, click on the tab in the menu bar. Also, you can click on the “more information” button beneath the legend on the right side of the screen to go the climate story.
How do you use the map viewer?
The map viewer contains all the maps. At the left side of the screen, you will see a box headed “Add map layers”. In this box, you can select the relevant map layers. The zoom feature enables users to zoom in on their own neighbourhood.
How can you view map layers?
Did you select one or more map layers in the left-hand box? Then click on “View map layers” in the upper right-hand corner. A box will pop up enabling you to select a climate scenario. You can compare the current climate with four scenarios: the “Low” scenario, featuring a limited change in climate, and the “High” scenario, in which the climate changes significantly for 2050 and for 2100. The grey fields underneath each map layer indicate the scenarios available for that specific map. Do you not see a map while you have clicked on it? It is likely that the map is not available for the scenario you have selected. Try selecting the current climate or another scenario.
Data
What is the difference between the map viewer and the climate stories?
The map viewer shows all the maps with a brief explanation. The climate stories provide background information to the main map layers in the map viewer and can assist you in using these maps.
How can I download map images?
To download a map image in PDF format, click on the printer icon in the map viewer. To retrieve GIS files, please use the form under the “Download Data” tab.
Can the underlying data be downloaded?
The GIS files can be retrieved via the form provided under the “Download Data” tab. This is free of charge, as the files contain open data provided as Geopackage/Geotiff. Are you using data from the Climate Impact Atlas BES? This data is covered by the Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0). This means that its source must be credited by quoting “Climate Impact Atlas BES, 2023”. In addition, we suggest to refer to the underlying data source. To find out which organisation has developed the map, see the source beneath the legend.
What kind of data have been used for the atlas?
The Climate Impact Atlas is based on open data and can be used free of charge. In addition to providing a first impression of how the changing climate may affect the BES islands, now and in the future, the atlas also contains maps basic information, such as geology.
How can you use the data in ArcGIS?
Would you like to use data from the Climate Impact Atlas BES in your own GIS set without downloading the underlying data? Load the Climate Impact Atlas map layers into your GIS set as online map services in WMS (Web Mapping Services) format. Use this URL to this end.
May data from the Climate Impact Atlas BES be used for other applications?
As the Climate Impact Atlas BES features open data, government bodies and private parties may use the information in external applications, such as local risk dialogues. Are you using data from the Climate Impact Atlas BES? This data is covered by the Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0). This means that its source must be credited by quoting “Climate Impact Atlas BES, 2024”. In addition, we suggest to refer to the underlying data source. To find out which organisation has developed the map, see the source beneath the legend.
What are the charges for using data from the Climate Impact Atlas?
The Climate Impact Atlas BES is an open platform: the information is public. Consequently, the data from the atlas can be used free of charge. In the map viewer, the data can be downloaded in PDF format, free of charge. The helpdesk can provide you with the data in GIS format, also free of charge.
Who is accountable, should data in the atlas prove incorrect?
The maps in the atlas are intended to get some perception of the scope of climate effects, and to place the issue of climate adaptation on the political agenda. As the maps provide a first impression, they do not warrant local decision-making. Consequently, the research institutes and CAS decline any responsibility for the consequences of assumptions based on texts or maps from the Climate Impact Atlas BES.
Map information
Who has developed the maps in the atlas?
The maps in the Climate Impact Atlas BES have been developed by several research institutes. To find out which party has developed the map, click on the “More information” button in each map layer. You will find this button on the right-hand side, in the “View map layers” box under the legend. In addition, you can read more about us.
What does the Climate Impact Atlas say about the scope of climate change?
We cannot be sure as to exactly what our future climate will look like. In October 2023, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) updated the climate scenarios for the Netherlands and the BES islands. The scenarios are based on two scales:
- the uncertainty in emissions, ranging from Low (limited temperature rise, in line with the Paris Agreement) to Warm (high temperature increase – highest emissions scenario).
- The climate model range, ranging from Dry (decrease in annual precipitation) to Wet (increase in annual precipitation).
Together, the scenarios represent the range within which climate change is likely to develop. The Climate Impact Atlas BES reflects the two most widely differing scenarios. The high scenario corresponds to the worst-case scenario, i.e., the highest of the four scenarios. The low scenario corresponds to the lowest of the four scenarios, in which the changes remain most limited. For each map layer, the Climate Impact Atlas only shows the available scenarios. Not all the scenarios are always available.
More information on the KNMI’23 scenarios is available on the KNMI-website.
Are all the potential climate effects reflected in the Climate Impact Atlas?
The map viewer contains map layers based on the availability of (spatial) open data. Not all potential climate effects have been or can be mapped.