The Hadley and Canadian models are in agreement on the general types of changes that will take place over the next century. Climate in general will get warmer, heat indices will rise, and precipitation will be more likely to arrive as intense, heavy storms.

But for the Southeast, there are some critical differences between the two models. For example, the Hadley model suggests wetter weather overall for the Southeast, while the Canadian model suggests drier, with widespread droughts that may transform some forested areas into savannas.

Climate models are far from perfect; there are uncertainties that no one can address at this time, such as exactly how future air pollution and carbon dioxide will affect Earth’s energy balances, and how future land covers will interact with the climate systems. This is why scientists use a series of models to cover the potential extremes of climate change.