They must have heard us talking. An earlier post was about Whidbey’s Weird Climate Change. Also recently, an interactive map was released that demonstrates how much a region’s climate will shift. The innovation come from the way they describe the shift. In a few decades City A will be like City B is now. New York City will be more like Arkansas.

Marysville stands in for Whidbey Island while Milwaukie stands in for Portland

Whidbey’s transition won’t be as extreme. Oak Harbor, WA will be more like Seattle, WA. Decades of climate change reduced to a commute for some. Whidbey Island may just be lucky enough to experience one of the smallest shifts in the nation.

Seattle’s shift is larger: Portland, Oregon – few hours drive. Some would argue that isn’t much of a culture change. They probably live far away because locals see a bigger difference.

The farther south you go, the greater the shift. Portland’s shift would be to the hills outside Sacramento, scrub pines, hot summers, and a nine hour drive.

And so on.

Climate will change here, but it looks like it will change much more radically elsewhere. Despite a couple of weeks of amazing winter weather (some towns in the region got over two feet of snow), the long term view of Whidbey’s climate and environment may seem stable compared to elsewhere. As those other climates shift, we may seen more people shift their addresses to Island County. Island County, WA where things happen a little slower, even climate change.