Predictions from climate models of changes in wind speed, whether looking at average speeds or extreme speeds, are less reliable than predictions of changes in temperature or precipitation. This is not to say that the predictions are wrong, just that there is greater uncertainty in the predictions of changes in winds. The climate model predictions of changes in temperature have the least uncertainty, and the predictions of changes in precipitation are the next least uncertain.
Annual Average Wind (m/s)
Location
Baseline
2050s
Change
1
5.4
5.3
-0.1
2
5.5
5.4
-0.1
3
5.4
5.4
0.0
4
5.2
5.1
-0.1
5
5.3
5.2
-0.1
6
5.4
5.3
-0.1
7
5.4
5.3
-0.1
8
5.3
5.2
-0.1
9
5.2
5.1
-0.1
9
5.2
5.1
-0.1
10
5.5
5.4
-0.1
Annual average wind speed shows a marginal decrease throughout the region.
Mean Annual Maximum Wind Speed (m/s)
Location
Baseline
2050s
Change
1
13.5
13.3
-0.2
2
13.1
13.2
+0.1
3
13.2
13.3
+0.1
4
13.0
12.8
-0.2
5
13.0
13.1
+0.1
6
13.2
13.3
+0.1
7
14.1
13.9
-0.1
8
12.9
13.2
+0.3
9
12.6
12.6
-0.1
9
12.6
12.6
-0.1
10
13.2
13.4
+0.2
Mean annual maximum wind speeds show no consistent pattern across the region. Where increases do occur, they are of the order of around 2% of baseline values.
