ClimateCentral
Climate Central is a 501(c)(3) non-profit science and media organization that researches climate change impacts and delivers attribution-science tools (Climate Shift Index, coastal risk products, the Billion-Dollar Disaster dataset) to journalists, TV meteorologists, policymakers, and the public, funded by donations and grants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersPrinceton, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What ClimateCentral does
Climate Central is a Princeton, New Jersey-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2008 that operates as a hybrid science and media enterprise, researching and communicating climate change impacts and solutions. The organization employs 51–100 staff and reports EIN 26-1797336 under New Jersey governing law. It maintains a remote-first operating model and positions itself explicitly as independent, non-advocacy, and editorially walled off from donors.
Its core technical asset is the Climate Shift Index (CSI) family of attribution-science tools — Air Temperature CSI, Ocean CSI (launched 2024), Tropical Cyclone CSI, and Humid Heat CSI — which quantify the influence of human-caused climate change on daily local weather events. Supporting products include the Coastal Risk Screening Tool, Coastal Risk Finder, FloodVision RiskViewer, Risk Finder, Sinking Tax Base, Weather Power, and Picturing Our Future for sea-level and renewable-energy analysis. As of October 2025, Climate Central also stewards the U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset transferred from NOAA, covering $101.4B in damages across 14 events in H1 2025. All tools are delivered as free, browser-based interactive applications under CC BY 4.0 licensing.
Climate Central does not sell products or licenses. Revenue is generated exclusively through gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals and organizations, with editorial decisions independent of donor support. Its go-to-market is community-led, distributing content and tools through the Climate Matters program for 300+ TV meteorologists, partnership-journalism collaborations with named regional outlets (KQED, Bridge Detroit, Bangor Daily News, Planet Detroit, Documented, Quartz, KUNR, The Daily Yonder), a Pulitzer Center funding partnership, direct audience channels (climatecentral.org, podcast, email newsletter, six social platforms), and an events presence. End-user segments are journalists and media outlets, federal/state/local policymakers and planners, and the general public.
ClimateCentral firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ClimateCentral
- Legal name
- Climate Central
- Website
- http://www.climatecentral.org/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Climate Central is a 501(c)(3) non-profit science and media organization that researches climate change impacts and delivers attribution-science tools (Climate Shift Index, coastal risk products, the Billion-Dollar Disaster dataset) to journalists, TV meteorologists, policymakers, and the public, funded by donations and grants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ClimateCentral industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Climate Science Research & Communications
- NAICS
- Environmental Consulting Services (54162)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Downscaled Climate Projections & Scenario Analytics (CMIP, SSP/RCP, Regionalization) (EUABALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs) (EUABAEAC), ESG/Sustainability Reporting & Disclosure Platforms (EUABAEAB), Benchmarking, Ratings & Stakeholder Reporting Portals (Scorecards, Dashboards) (EUABAEAJ)
Keywords
Where ClimateCentral is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Princeton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ClimateCentral business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Grants: Climate Central is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that accepts gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of activities. The organization maintains editorial independence regardless of donor support.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
ClimateCentral product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Climate Central is a non-profit science and journalism organization that researches climate change and produces interactive data tools, visualizations, and localized reporting resources that quantify climate influence on daily weather, sea level rise, and coastal flooding. Its flagship offerings include the Climate Shift Index family (air temperature, ocean, tropical cyclones, humid heat), coastal risk screening and flooding tools, the U.S. Billion-Dollar Disasters dataset, and the Climate Matters reporting program for meteorologists and journalists. The organization pairs these products with Partnership Journalism collaborations that deliver science-based climate reporting to newsrooms and the public.
Product overview
ClimateCentral operates as a hybrid science and media non-profit organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of climate intelligence products and services. The core platform consists of the Climate Shift Index (CSI) family of tools—including Air Temperature CSI, Ocean CSI, Tropical Cyclone CSI, and Humid Heat CSI—that quantify climate change influence on daily weather using attribution science. Supporting these are coastal risk products including the Coastal Risk Screening Tool, Coastal Risk Finder, FloodVision RiskViewer, Risk Finder, and Sinking Tax Base for sea level rise analysis. Data products include the U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset (acquired from NOAA in 2025), The Monthly Climate Brief, and general Data Products for risk exposure evaluation. Climate Matters serves as the primary journalism resource program, while Attribution Science provides peer-reviewed research capabilities. Additional tools include Weather Power for renewable energy forecasting, Picturing Our Future for long-term sea level visualization, Local Climate Information for location-specific climate stories, and Interactive Data Visualizations. The organization also runs Partnership Journalism collaborations with newsrooms and Climate Services for actionable climate information delivery.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Climate Shift Index (CSI) Interactive tool that quantifies how human-caused climate change influences daily local weather, including air temperature, ocean temperature, and tropical cyclones, for use by journalists, meteorologists, policymakers, and the general public.
- Climate Shift Index: Ocean Quantifies the influence of climate change on sea surface temperatures across the world's oceans, grounded in peer-reviewed attribution science and used by journalists and researchers to communicate ocean warming.
- Climate Shift Index: Tropical Cyclone Shows how much climate change has added to hurricane wind strength, attributing tropical cyclone intensity to human-caused climate change for news and policy reporting.
- Humid Heat CSI Quantifies how climate change is influencing daily humid heat and related health risks using equivalent temperature metrics, for use in health and climate reporting.
- Coastal Risk Screening Tool Interactive mapping tool that explores local sea level rise and coastal flooding risks worldwide using the most advanced available global model of coastal elevations.
- Risk Finder (Coastal Risk Finder) Explores risks of sea level rise and coastal flooding in any U.S. community with downloadable tables, figures, maps, local projections, and potential impacts to populations, land, and property values.
- FloodVision RiskViewer View and download photorealistic visualizations of flood risk from sea level rise and storm surge events in locations along the East and Gulf Coasts, for use in reporting and planning.
- Weather Power Create and download graphical forecasts of daily wind or solar electricity generation for any U.S. media market, county, or congressional district, supporting renewable energy reporting.
- Picturing Our Future Visualize how climate and energy choices this decade will influence sea levels for hundreds of years, helping communicate long-term climate consequences to the public.
- Climate Matters Reporting resource program that helps meteorologists and journalists report on climate impacts and solutions in ways that are local, immediate, and personal, grounded in the latest science.
- U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Provides detailed insights into the nation's costliest weather and climate extremes (1980-present) through a suite of interactive tools, reports, and online data visualizations, transferred from NOAA to Climate Central in October 2025.
- Local Climate Information Explore local climate stories by entering city or state, showing how a warming world is affecting specific locations, intended for general public and local reporting.
Quantifiable outcome
- Urban heat analysis covering 65 major cities representing 15% of U.S. population
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ClimateCentral
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
ClimateCentral technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature8 records
ClimateCentral partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)coreClimate Central took over the Billion-Dollar Disaster research analysis and website from NOAA, with Adam Smith — formerly NOAA's lead scientist for the program — now serving as Climate Central's Senior Climate Impacts Scientist. The dataset recorded 14 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the United States in the first half of 2025, causing $101.4 billion in damages.
- KQEDcorePartnership journalism collaboration producing climate-focused reporting for Bay Area audiences on climate change adaptation challenges in schools.
- Bridge DetroitcorePartnership journalism collaboration examining how Black Detroit children with asthma are hardest hit by seasonal allergies driven by climate change.
- Bangor Daily NewscorePartnership journalism collaboration examining how flooding and mold multiply damage from Maine's harsher storms.
- Planet DetroitcorePartnership journalism collaboration investigating how Canadian wildfire smoke affected Michigan health outcomes, with Climate Central research showing over 100 estimated deaths in Michigan alone.
- The Reader (Omaha)corePartnership journalism collaboration exploring wind energy growth and its economic impacts across Nebraska communities.
- DocumentedcorePartnership journalism collaboration examining New York City's flooding crisis in the age of climate change, including Hurricane Ida impacts on basement apartments.
- QuartzcorePartnership journalism collaboration investigating how U.S. coastal wetlands are rapidly disappearing and what it will take to save them.
- KUNRminorPartnership journalism collaboration on fire weather extremes and prescribed burns in Nevada/Northern Nevada region.
- The Daily YonderminorPartnership journalism collaboration on rural Americans who are too poor for federal flood protections.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ClimateCentral competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ClimateCentral social profiles
Digital presenceClimateCentral financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ClimateCentral leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
ClimateCentral funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ClimateCentral M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ClimateCentral
What does ClimateCentral do?
Climate Central is a non-profit science and journalism organization that researches climate change and produces interactive data tools, visualizations, and localized reporting resources that quantify climate influence on daily weather, sea level rise, and coastal flooding. Its flagship offerings include the Climate Shift Index family (air temperature, ocean, tropical cyclones, humid heat), coastal risk screening and flooding tools, the U.S. Billion-Dollar Disasters dataset, and the Climate Matters reporting program for meteorologists and journalists. The organization pairs these products with Partnership Journalism collaborations that deliver science-based climate reporting to newsrooms and the public.
Is ClimateCentral a public or private company?
ClimateCentral is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was ClimateCentral founded?
ClimateCentral was founded in 2008. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is ClimateCentral based?
ClimateCentral is headquartered in Princeton, United States, in the North America region.
How does ClimateCentral make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Grants.
Does ClimateCentral have an API?
No public API is recorded for ClimateCentral.
What industry is ClimateCentral in?
ClimateCentral's product category is Climate Science Research & Communications. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUABALAB, Downscaled Climate Projections & Scenario Analytics (CMIP, SSP/RCP, Regionalization), with a secondary code of EUABAEAC, Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs). Its NAICS code is 54162.