Re-drawing Köppen-Geiger classes with microclimate: implications for nature and society

Scientists have long categorized the planet’s climate using the Köppen-Geiger (KG) classification to understand climate change impacts, biogeographical realms, agricultural suitability, and conservation. However, global KG maps primarily rely on macroclimate data collected by weather stations, which may not represent microclimatic conditions experienced by most life on Earth. Few studies have explored microclimate at broad scales, largely due to data and computational constraints. Here, we predicted KG classes separately from macroclimate and microclimate for over 32 million locations across six continents. Microclimate reclassified 38% of the total area, and microclimate KG classes were both more spatially variable, and encompassed a broader range of latitudes, relative to macroclimate KG classes. By redrawing the lines of climate classes, our study prompts a reevaluation of the importance of meteorological drivers of ecology across scales, shedding light on how natural, agricultural, and social systems experience and respond to global change.